Rebirth
by Pen to Paper Writer
Summary: Everything she knew would change. She would be asked to grow up a lot faster and make decisions that would change her for the rest of her life. Only she would do it without the two people she loved and respected the most in her life. Set during and beyond Cops and Robbers.
1. Chapter 1

Beckett's phone rang and she answered it without even looking at the ID of who was calling, because she knew it was Castle.

"Tell me you need me" he said…

Her mind went into overdrive trying to figure out exactly what he had meant. She countered with "excuse me"

Castle told her of his current predicament with his mother at the bank and wanted to know if there were any body drops he could help her with.

She came back with "there are no dead bodies, just a pile of paperwork and you are welcomed to do your share." she said to him and wondered to herself why he was always ready to find justice for a heinous crime but became scarce when there was paperwork to be done to close the case.

Just as he decided that listening to his mother argue with the bank manager was a lost cause he moved out to the lobby of the bank and leaned against the kiosk that housed the deposit & withdrawal slips.

Looking towards the front door he noticed that a man standing at the opposite kiosk and then a woman enter the bank and they both had suspicious bulges under their coats. Beckett was still waiting for him to continue their conversation when he said "Hmmm" Castle says. "I think this bank is going to be robbed"

"What" Beckett replies."I think this bank is going to be robbed"

"I think this bank is about to be robbed"

Beckett dismissed his comment and said "Really, are you that bored?"

Castle moves away from the kiosk to get a better vantage point. He describes what he sees to Beckett.

"Castle, I think your writer's imagination is getting away with you"

Just then there was a loud sound coming from the front door and the order was shouted out "everybody get down on the floor" Castle looked to see where his mom was and realized that she was safe for the time being, the robbers corralled everyone in the bank and with the exception of the bank manager. Martha and himself who were still in the manager's office. Castle then told Beckett that this was not his imagination working in overdrive. Kate's heart sunk.

Kate asked what was going on and he gave her his location "I am at New Amsterdam Bank and Trust on Lex." Beckett looked to Javi and Kevin and asked them to report to dispatch that there was a 10-30 in progress, Kevin said "a 10-30 since when are handling bank robbery calls?"

Kate looked at them both and said "Castle's there"

Kate went into detective mode and started to pump Castle for any information he could give her.

He told her that there were 3 of them and that they were way too efficient to be just dime store bank robbers. Then he heard the hammer of a gun being cocked behind his head and told her that there were 4.

The standoff continued Beckett had an in with one of the robbers named Trapper John, she talked to him on Castles phone and it was clear that he was the leader.

She made the comment that since no one was hurt, and nothing was stolen yet this would just be a blurb in the metro section if he left the same way he came in it would end.

He stated "you got to promise not to come look for me?"

Kate was furious and told him "I don't look, I hunt, and trust me you don't want that" She continued "So leave now and this will just be a quirky little article in the metro section"

Castle looked to his captor and he told Kate, "Sorry sweetheart I'd rather make the front page" With that said he threw Castle's phone to the floor and crushed it under his foot destroying the phone while all the time he had a Smith & Wesson SW1911 pointed at Castle.

Having Martha, Castle, and the bank manager now get up and move to the other hostages he took the master safety deposit box key from the bank manager's neck and turned to the task at hand.

Trapper John heard the sirens in the distance and informed that the other robbers that they would have company very soon. They were trained for just this contingent.

Just then Castle reached for Martha's hand giving her a look of security.

Swat teams took up position around the perimeter of the bank, Kate decided that her knowledge was more useful at the scene. Upon entering the command post she announced herself to the ranking officer. His name was Captain Peterson. He looked like a no-nonsense type of man. When Kate had told him that her partner was on the inside he almost fell over "you mean to tell me that we have a cop inside the bank?"

Kate clarified to him what her partner actually was "Sir he is a civilian investigator"

She gave him a rundown of all she knew and told him exactly what Castle told her. He took the information and thanked her and told her to leave his command post.

Ryan and Espo were waiting outside the command post and asked Beckett what was going on. She explained to them that their services were not needed.

Beckett had a disgusted look on her face and could not believe that she could actually contribute something to this standoff but Captain Peterson dismissed her. So with this in her mind, she briefly thought about Castle and what he must be thinking right now. She told Espo and Ryan to look over other possible MO's that fit what was going on here. With that, they left hoping that they could help. Kate was beside herself, she did not want anything to happen to Castle. This would really put her at a disadvantage because little did he know, she had fallen for him, not just as partners but she actually opened up her heart to the possibility that she could love him the way he deserved. She was sure of this so, getting him out of this alive was her top priority.

Captain Peterson's aide walked out of the command post and was about to call Beckett's name but hesitated a second when he saw Espo and Ryan make a beeline for their Crown Vic.

"What was that about" as he walked over to Kate. She told him that there were a couple of things that she wanted her team to check out. He looked back to the command post and then told her that Captain Peterson wanted to see her.

Walking back into the command post after having been so rudely kicked out she opened her mouth to ask what he wanted but before she could say one syllable and Peterson laid into her, "What the hell were you thinking?" Kate looked at him a little hurt all she really wanted to do was end this standoff

"I was just trying to help out sir"

"What by charming the bank robber?

Kate is flabbergasted and replies "What"?

Peterson continues with "we get him on the horn and before I can get two words out he says that he will only talk to the lady cop, the one with the bedroom voice" Kate is now really confused, and tells Peterson that she is not the right person for this job. He denies her statement and tells her that she is in. He tells her to do exactly the opposite of her homicide training tells her, it's not about finding the next clue. But rather keeping the situation calm. The phone rings and it's patched through to Kate while Peterson listens in,

"Hi, this is Detective Beckett I understand that you wanted to speak with me?"

Kate asks him his name and he comes back with Trapper John.

Beckett quickly associates him with the show M*A*S*H and asks if he is a M*A*S*H fan. She asks him if there is anything she can do for him and he reads her like a book and tells her that he knows she is reading a page right out of Captain Confidence's play book. She knows that there is a pregnant bank teller and needs to get the status on her health. Trapper John will not hear any of what she is saying to him, and this frustrates her. So instead he tells her how it is.

"Kate, if you lie to me, I kill hostages, if you jerk me around, I kill hostages, if you storm the bank I will kill hostages….and Kate I'll start with your boyfriend first."

The line goes dead and Kate's heart sinks so far into her gut that she can't believe what she just heard. The fact that Trapper John could even consider harming anyone in the bank puts her on the defensive.

The scene outside the bank has changed, people vying to get a picture on their cell phones, some waiting for any news about loved ones inside, but the police have set up barricades 150 feet from the bank entrance and made bystanders move beyond the barriers. Kate gets a pep talk from Peterson telling her that moving forward in a situation like this may not be the wisest move to make sometimes doing nothing at all is the best plan. Kate rests her head on her hands and wonders what Castle is doing at this very moment.

Meanwhile, inside the bank the gears in Castle's mind are turning. All the hostages sit in a circle and he asks "Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt? They all nod to the positive and he is relieved. Then a man named Sal Martino blames Castle for bringing the police to the bank so early.

Simone the bank teller tells Sal "The robbers brought this on themselves because they pulled the pulled the bottom bills from the cash drawer thus setting off the silent alarm" The bank manager agrees and says "It's no one's fault"

Everyone is on edge considering what could happen and before things get totally out of hand Castle calms them down and asks Dr. Howser if they could arrange bathroom runs. He is already thinking about the way he can gather information. After all the hostages go the restroom, they compare notes and come up with two facts, the robbers are forgetting about all the cash that's lying in the unopened vault, and Trapper John is spending an awful amount of time in the safe deposit box area. Asking the bank manager if he can tell him the number of a specific box by its location. The manager says sure. Castle gives him the row and column location and he says it's Safe Deposit Box 120.

Kate decided to get a breath of fresh air and headed outside. Stepping onto the sidewalk she noticed Espo walking up to her. She walked over to him and asked him what he found out. Her first question was about the bank cameras, he said "They were all disabled" She then asked what the probability was if CSU went in blind and stormed the bank?

He looked away and right then and there she knew the result would be very, very bad for the hostages. Feeling defeated Kate walked back to the command post and just as she sat down then the phone rang. She strapped the headset to her head and started talking to Trapper John. He was in no mood for being strung along and made a demand for a bus with tinted windows and a jet fueled up and ready to fly at Teterboro airport to bring them to a non-extradition country of their choosing. And only at this time would they consider releasing Simone the expectant bank teller. After completing his demands he gave Kate only 3 hours to make it happen.

She was stunned when Peterson demanded to his aide to get all the things Trapper John had requested. Kate looked at him like he was a nut! But there was a method to his madness, he figured that the bus would be a way to lure them out and take them out before they had a chance to know what had hit them.

Peterson's aide called Beckett and Peterson to check out something odd he was seeing on the monitor. Both walking over and looking at the flashes of light bouncing off the ceiling neither could understand what they were seeing. Then it hit Kate "Morse Code" she said. It was Castle always trying to find a way to get her some much needed information. She was always amazed at how he could make something out of nothing. They decoded the message and it was for safe deposit box 120 owned by a couple named Agnes and Gideon Fields.

Meanwhile, Sal had just returned back from another bathroom run and he told Castle what he had noticed on the way back. "I think they were white bricks and there were detonators lying nearby, I think it could be C-4. Martha and Castle looked like they just had seen a ghost, their faces were so white. This was not a good thing and Castle took inventory of the hostages and thought if he could protect at least half of them he did his best knowing keeping some of them alive was worth the risk.

Ryan and Espo arrived at the apartment of Agnes Fields and announced themselves as NYPD officers. There was only silence. Yelling again they only heard the faint sounds on a radio playing in the background. Looking at each other the choice was a clear one. They both raised their legs and busted down the door. After gaining entry to the apartment the stench of death was over powering. Kevin needed to cover his nose to stop the smells attacking his nose. In the meantime, Javi was hitting the speed dial on his phone to reach Kate.

Answering her phone Kate asked what was going on Javi replied and informed that Agnes Fields was dead. Her key for the safe deposit box had been ripped from her neck and it looks like she was murdered about a week ago….strangled. Looking around, Ryan noticed a broken lamp by his feet and looked down, something with a black finish caught his eye. He knelt down and retrieved the item and he said, "Hey check this out" Beckett was still on speaker and asked "what is it" Ryan replied "it's a bug, and not from a spy shop either this one looks professional". After hearing this Kate turned looking away from the bank and she almost stopped what she was saying when she saw Alexis walking towards her. Still on the phone she told the boys to get everything they could on Agnes Fields. Hanging up the phone Alexis started with nonstop questions "there in there aren't they, my dad and Grams? I know that they were coming down here and now neither of them are answering their cell phones and dad always takes calls and now you are here" Kate sees the terror of the situation in her eyes and reassures her. "Alexis everything will be fine, but they are inside that bank."

Seeing that Simone is starting to get uncomfortable sitting on the hard floor he stands up and asks Dr. Quinn if he can provide her with some couch cushions all the time her uzi was pointed at him ready to fire but after thinking about it she agrees with Castle. He moves over to the couch and from behind he hears what sounds like someone struggling to breathe. He spins and around and sees Sal getting up but he is acting odd like he is a puppet and as Castle thinks this, Sal's body stiffens up and he falls back to the floor. Rick runs over to Sal's side and assesses his condition. Noticing a medical alert bracelet on his left wrist he reads that Sal has epilepsy. Dr. Quinn tells Dr. Howser to advise Trapper John about the situation and he does so, in the meantime Dr. Quinn tells Castle to help him and Castle has no idea about what to do. He is in over his head with Sal and tells her "Well Dr. Quinn unless you are really a medicine woman, this man needs a real hospital."

Outside the bank Kate and Alexis are talking "What am I supposed to do?" "Do you understand they're all I've got" Kate tries to reassure her telling her that they are doing everything humanly possible to get them out safely but Alexis hears none of this she has gone into protective mode and can't believe this is happening. Again Alexis says "They're all I've got I can't believe that this is happening" Kate wants to say something to her but she is not sure if she should say it. She decides to anyway " Alexis I promise you that they are going to be okay" This snaps Alexis out of her haze and tells Kate "they better be" Kate looks at her in shock and now she wishes that she never made this promise. Alexis did not mean to sound so ungrateful when she said her words, but Kate really needed to know how she felt. Pulling out her cell phone she calls Ashley and thinking he actually answers starts to talk, but then realizing that it's his voice mail she waits for his greeting to finish. She tells him about the current situation with her dad and grams and then asks him to call her back as soon as he can because she needs his support. Hanging up the phone she thinks that he has been so distant recently and wonders if a long distance relationship is really worth it. Peterson's aide tells Kate that there is an incoming call and rushes back to the command post. Picking up the phone she gets an earful from Trapper John telling her that there is a medical emergency with one of the hostages and he needs help fast.

Looking to Peterson after hearing what they both heard he decides that sending in a tactical team under the guise of retrieving the sick hostage will be their best option. Kate counters him with the following idea, "what if we send a cop with tactical training to locate the robbers and bring that intel back to make a sound plan of attack?"

Peterson asks her "do you have a cop in mind?" knowing that this intel will be the hostages only hope she volunteers herself. Peterson agrees. Getting dressed into a borrowed FDNY Paramedic's uniform Kate is ready. She pushes the gurney to the front door of the bank and the door suddenly opens. Upon entering the lobby she is already making mental notes of what is going on around her until she sees his beautiful blue eyes looking up to her. He is taken aback a bit but then realizes that she has a mission to complete. Having her there he quickly grabs a deposit slip and writes something on the back of it.

She kneels down to Sal's side and asks him about his condition he tells her that is does not look good. They get him ready to lift onto the gurney and place him there gently. Realizing that Beckett is strapping him to the gurney this is the time to slip her his note. She takes it from him and wheels Sal out of the bank lobby. She turns once more to look back at him and he sees the gentleness of her face, something he will never forget because he has fallen in love with this woman he can't imagine living another day without her knowing this and when he gets out of this current situation he will tell her how madly in love he is with her. Handing him off to the real paramedics she unfolds the note and can't believe what she sees. C-4 was the only thing he wrote on the note. Her mind now fearing the worst case scenario, she reports back to Captain Peterson, but before she does this she notices Alexis too close to the bank and tells her to move beyond the official police barricade. Her safety is at risk now too. Ashley calls her back and he is in a rush and as soon as she tries to get a word in the line goes dead. So much for his support she thinks. Beckett advises Peterson that there is C-4 in the bank so he rules out a tactical breech.

The phone rings and its Trapper John. He is now furious about why his bus is not in front of the bank. Kate tells him that it's stuck in traffic and will arrive in about 20 minutes. He will hear none of her excuses and he tells her that if the bus is not outside now he will start killing hostages, he lived up to his end of the deal and so should she. Getting more frustrated he raises his weapon and fires in the general direction of Castle and Martha. Kate hears the shot and almost drops the phone. "What was that?" she asks, he replies "That was just a warning shot the next will be for the kill. Kate is showing no mercy and lets loose into the speaker of the phone "Listen jackass I don't control traffic you're going to give me 20 minutes because if you don't I will personally walk through those doors and put a bullet in your skull." Trapper John thinks about it and then agrees and gives Kate 20 more minutes. Peterson is at a loss for words but comes up with "well that's one way to negotiate".

Back inside the bank Trapper John tells Castle "Your girlfriend is a hellcat" Rick tells him "well she's not my girlfriend" He does not know what made him say that it could have been that he just wanted to jump right over the dating phase and go straight to proposing to her, he misses her and really wants to be out of this situation. Just then a cell phone rings and Dr. Huxtable answers. Trapper John looks back at Castle and he starts to put the clues together but he wants to know what he will do with the hostages he tells him that he should not worry about them but he will kill him last. At that statement Martha whimpers and covers her mouth in fear. Dr. Huxtable gets Trapper Johns attention and lets him know that they were "good to go". Asking all the hostages to get up they are all moved to the counting room near the vault. It is not actually in the vault but it is a small room off to the side of it. It has bars just like a jail cell and the robbers use this to their advantage. Making sure everyone is now secure in the counting room they get started on the last phase of their plan….getting away from the police.

Kate sat on the edge of the desk while Peterson made plans for the tactical breech. She kept wondering why Trapper John hadn't asked something from her in return for the additional 20 minutes. Peterson looked at her and asked what was wrong and she made her thoughts known. Peterson said not to worry about and take this as a win. It still nagged at her. All the hostages now had their hands bound with zip ties. Martha leaned her head on Castle's shoulder and apologized to her son for dragging him with her to the bank. "It's okay mother don't worry, I love you"

Beckett's cell started to ring, fishing it out of her uniform pocket she slid the button to answer it. "Beckett" Espo started telling her about everything that they found out about Agnes Fields. The news was not what she was hoping for and this seemed to set them back two steps rather than moving forward. Just then while Kate started to ask Espo if there was any way they could get In touch with Agnes' son-in-law Ron Brandt, as she nearly completed her sentence a massive explosion rocked the command post. Kate made her way out of the command post and was met with concrete dust and debris everywhere. It was hard to breathe but all she could think about was Castle and if he was okay…

 **A/N: This first chapter follows cannon for the episode 4x07 "Cops and Robbers." It is probably one of my favorite episodes. Please beware there will be character deaths in the upcoming chapters and Alexis makes some decisions that she would not normally make on the show. I was hesitant about re-posting this story because of all the negative reviews it received the first time around. This is fiction and my story is just a product of my imagination. Please read and review, thanks.**

 **P2P**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN1: I am going to stress that this is a reposting. This story was written and posted 2 years ago. It has been edited/updated to reflect current times.**

 **AN2: As with the last time the negative reviews are starting to be sent and there are people who do not like the fact that this story leaves the comfort of the show. This is an A/U story. Given the fact that most of this came from my imagination it is a work of fiction so please keep this in mind. If you don't like a different outcome for these characters then the back button is the first button on the top tool bar lefthand side!**

 **AN3: WARNING: Character deaths in this chapter.**

Her world was coming to a screeching halt. This can't be happening now just as she thought the standoff would be over and now this. She drew her gun and headed into the bank to search for any signs of life. Prior to getting to the entry door of the bank three ESU cops had stopped the teams from entering. They needed to do a quick assessment to be sure that there were was not going to be any further detonations. Once cleared to enter the SWAT teams were alongside her as she called out his name. "Castle." It now became clear to her that she needed to find him "Castle." She called again, but still there was no reply. Moving towards the vault she noticed that the wall opposite the counting room had a huge hole blown through it. Then she made the gruesome discovery. There were bodies strewn all over the small room. Most not moving, some with missing limbs and a couple of them had a look of dismay on their faces. Beckett called out to the other responding officers and let them know that she found the hostages.

She was making her way over to the collapsed wall and she noticed the look of fear on Simone's face.

"Simone, have you seen Richard Castle or his mother anywhere?"

She was slow to answer but told Kate that they were both opposite her against the wall when the C-4 went off. Simone had a chunk of wall and other debris on her lower legs but Kate thought she and her baby would be alright. She turned and was almost struck down by what she was now seeing. There he was. Rick was lying face down with rubble and debris covering him. If it wasn't for her knowing what he was wearing that day when she retrieved Sal Martino earlier she would have not given the body a second look. Then she noticed a smaller figure not too far away from him their hands holding each others lovingly.

It was Martha. Quickly Kate moved to both of them she reached Maratha's arm first and felt for a pulse. She has to have a pulse…please, she has to….Kate felt her pulse and she let out a small breath of relief when she found it. After looking her over she looked to have a compound fracture of her femur, numerous cuts and bruises but her most threatening injuries were the second-degree burns over 60 % of her back nothing that life threatening.

Martha lets out a soft moan and rapidly blinks her eyes at Kate, she tries to speak but the words never leave her throat. Kate tells her that the medics are nearby and that she needs to see about Rick's condition. Martha grabs Kate's hand and stops her from moving over to him, "Kathrine darling" she says after finding her voice and being as proper as ever "there's no need to go over to him. He is gone." Kate does not understand her meaning but moves over to him anyway. She uncovers a lot of rubble to expose most of his body grabs hold of his wrist and is frantically searching for a pulse. She tries three more locations and can't seem to find anything at all. Martha watches her knowing that she was right

For Kate, the rest of the recovery is a blur. Paramedics are moving around her to tend to Martha getting her stable is their first priority and all she can do is look at his lifeless body on the floor. Tears start to fall and they leave a wet trail on her face staining a trail through the concrete dust on her cheeks. They need to get his body removed from the scene but she will not move, she never told him how she felt about him and her body starts to shake uncontrollably. The paramedics finally get her away from his body long enough to put him into a body bag and place him on a stretcher. Walking slowly with his body holding on to the stretcher mostly for balance Kate and the medics make their way out of the bank. Just as they get to the lobby doors it hits her….Alexis, oh shit what have I done.

Alexis was glad when she saw grams being taken to the hospital now all she just needed to see that her dad in one piece as well. This sadly would not be the case. Kate was the next to exit the bank and when Alexis saw her she had the biggest smile on her face, now everything would be fine her dad would follow hurt and bruised but still be with them. Kate looked to Alexis and watched her smile fade replaced with fear, then replaced with anger. The medics rolled the stretcher almost right past her then she ordered them to stop and open the body bag, Kate reached for her arm to keep her from looking but it was already too late. The medic unzipped the top of the bag and then Alexis lost it. Crying uncontrollably she now realized her worst fears had come full circle. Turning towards Kate, she tried to explain what had happened to her father. "Alexis I just wanted to tell- Alexis raised her hand and slapped Kate so hard that she felt it burn immediately "You bitch, you made a promise to me and you told me that they would be fine" Alexis pointed to the body bag that her father was now in.

"Kate, does he look fine?" She screamed at her with the emphasis on the word "fine"?

Kate was being bombarded by Alexis like she was a pro, she really could not blame her but she needed to understand that she was not the person who she needed to blame, it was the damn bank robbers. Alexis just stared at her father in the bag and when Kate went to console her she spun around and told Kate "What we had between us" her finger pointing at each other "is now over I don't ever want to know you exist after I leave here. I trusted you and now that's all gone. But I just want to let you in on one little secret my father had told me about 2 weeks after you were shot he had finally came to his senses and made up his mind that he was truly and madly in love with you. He told me that he was waiting for the right moment to ask you, or the courage to ask but he was going to ask you to marry him! We both know that it will never happen now. So detective have a great life!" After Alexis left she rethought the little fact she told Kate, not to be spiteful towards her but she felt she would want to know about it. Now thinking about it, she might have made a huge mistake in telling her.

Kate was numb all over so much that she could not move from where she was. Her face still stung from where Alexis had slapped her but her mind was still reeling... Rick was going to ask her to marry him. She was in shock and could not think straight. She needed to go to the hospital and see Martha to find out if there was anything Castle had said to her before he died. Because of the nature of this case and since Kate was involved in the negations in the bank robbery she had to file a preliminary report of the bank incident. Her visit with Martha would need to wait until tomorrow.

The ME concluded that the cause of death for Richard Castle was blunt force trauma. A piece of concrete had acted like a projectile when the explosion occurred. A three-foot piece of re-bar sticking out of the concrete ripped through Castle's femoral artery on his right leg and along with other bodily damage he received and he went into shock and bled out in about three minutes. In later weeks it would be known that the bank robbers miscalculated the time the detonator had set off the C-4. Even though the vault floor was the intended target for their escape but the early detonation caught them unaware of the damage they had caused. Along with the vault floor, the wall that housed the safe deposit boxes had also been destroyed. This is what killed Rick.

Lanie called Kate to the morgue and wanted to explain to her how Castle left this life knowing she wanted to how Castle died. Kate told her that she needed to keep their visit brief because of what happened with Alexis the other day. She really did not need to deal with the raging redhead again. Kate listened to Lanie as she described to her how Castle had died, by the end of Lanie's account she looked over to see Kate with tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "Lanie, I loved him so much and now he'll never know. Now how will I make it through my days without him?" Lanie had no way to answer her best friend's question only to tell her that she was so very, very sorry.

Upon reaching the hospital room of Martha Rodgers Kate noticed there was a commotion coming from inside her room. Coming closer to her room she saw Alexis tucked in the corner of the room she was unable to get around all the doctors in the room and was glad that Alexis could not see her. Moving back away from the doorway Kate listened to everything that was being said. One doctor stated that if her body could not fight off the infection she would not have a chance because her heart was not strong enough to survive something like this. Another doctor agreed and just as he finished his sentence the heart monitor sounded with a steady tone and not the customary beeps.

The personnel in the room went into overdrive everyone shouting orders to get her heart beating again. Drugs were administered without really having any effect. A d-fib machine was used, and again after four shocks at different voltages were also of no use. All of their efforts were in vain, though, after four minutes of trying to resuscitate her, the order was given to stop life-saving measures everyone stopped what they were doing and the elder doctor reached in for a pulse finding nothing there he announced her time of death at 1543.

Kate raised her hand to her mouth and quietly sobbed uncontrollably. Leaning against the opposite wall she slid to the floor and wondering how this was happening all over again. Yesterday she thought Martha was doing fine. Her thoughts then went to Alexis, not only now was she fatherless but she had now just probably lost the only mother figure she had in her life. She really could never count on Meredith to fill that bill. The room started to clear out and Kate realized that she should get moving before Alexis caught her in the hospital. Rising up from the floor she started to move towards the elevator. She pressed the down button and was in deep thought when she heard her name being called by a familiar voice. "Detective Beckett" she turned to see Alexis walking towards her and she tried to make a break for the opening elevator doors. "Wait don't leave yet" Alexis took a hold of Kate's arm and she pulled her back off the elevator. Kate did not know what to expect from Alexis so she raised her hand to defend her face to ward off any type of slap that she thought was coming her way.

Alexis was totally unprepared for what she witnessed from Kate, but understood why she did what she did. "Kate, I will not hurt you and I apologize for my actions and rude attitude the other day."

She looked into the younger woman's eyes and saw that she meant what said. Alexis needed to have the comfort of someone her father loved and decided that that Kate needed it also. She wrapped her arms around Kate's body and hugged her. Kate could not hold it in any longer hugged her back and started to cry. Her body was shaking so hard she was not sure if it was her or Alexis who was doing the shaking. Neither wanted their embrace to end but something needed to be said.

Kate "I am now all alone, I have no one left I don't know what to do now." Kate looked at Alexis a little hurt and thought about what she wanted to say to her. She started with saying

"Alexis you will always have me here to help you and I love you like you were my own child even though I'm not your biological mother." They moved to some seats across from the elevators. "Without them here with me anymore I don't have the drive to do anything in my life."

Listening if she was done talking Kate started with "there's still school to go to." Alexis had decided that this was not the wisest path she needed to follow. Actually she had another idea in her mind one that would take a lot of planning and training and honor her father's memory of what he was doing before he died.

"I think that I am going to move in a different direction with my life now and I will be traveling for quite some time." Kate did not like where this conversation was headed. She did not want to lose the only person that reminded her of Rick. "Are you sure about this." Kate asked?

Alexis noticed the worry in Kate's face and tried to reassure her. I have a plan and I need to know that you will support me no matter what I decide to do. She was a little reluctant but agreed to her terms.

With that decision made, now Kate and Alexis had to plan two funerals. Alexis was amazed with the way Kate could get things done with the full support of the NYPD behind her. The funeral went off without a hitch but there were some nervous cops there remembering the last time there were all together in this cemetery. Bag pipes played and the service was presided over by a Catholic priest. When the time came for the people closest to Castle to say something there was no hesitation. Alexis spoke first and spoke from her heart. She will always remember her father and Grandmother no matter what happened in her life. They were a driving force in her life and that in itself had made her want more from life. Turning away from the podium she placed a single white rose on each coffins. Next it was Kate's turn. She got up and faced the podium, and in her mind stumbled over what she wanted to say when she looked out at all the people there. Starting her eulogy "I was in love with Rick Castle." Everyone in attendance could not believe what they had just heard. She continued telling everyone that he was more than her partner he was her savior in more ways than even he could ever imagine. His written word had seen her though the hardest of times after her mother was murdered. Concluding her final comments she also placed a single red rose on the top of each coffin. The honor guard raised their rifles and shot 21 times, although Castle was not a cop, he had once saved the city from a certain "dirty bomb" thus deserving the salute. The mourners started to filter out of the cemetery and then the service was finished.

 **AN4: To the guest who left his/her review that stated this: "** Reposting a story that was already badly received the first time it was posted... I guess, some people never learn."

 **Well, I have learned 1 thing since I last posted this story, I have learned that there is a moderate reviews tab and then after reading said review there is a check box for approve or delete button. Guess where your review ended up? Trolls will be deleted!**

 **P2P**


	3. Chapter 3

Kate was lost in thought sitting at her desk. It had been just about four years since she and Alexis had buried her dad and grams. It had also been the last time she had any contact with Alexis. She had missed her something fierce but never understood why she stayed away without any word for her. She tried calling, texting, and even emailing, and skyping. She had even thought of hiring a private detective. But one day after returning back from a crime scene in Chelsea she thought she had seen her crossing the street. She had to take a closer second look but she still had her doubts, this woman had the same color red hair but it was a lot shorter than it was four years ago. Her frame was thinner but a lot more muscular almost like a body builders. Kate made a mental note to see if she actually was back in the city. It was possible.

Her grandmother and father were both gone. There was nothing to keep her in a city that would always keep reminding her of what she had lost. She only wanted to become a person that could make a difference. So she booked a trip to Tokyo Japan a month after the funeral and started putting her plan into play. It would be a long road but one she thought would be righteous. The fact that her father was now gone she thought that what she wanted to do now he would appreciate the path she was on, wherever he was. As she sat on the tarmac at JFK waiting to leave she thinks back to how she treated Kate. While she had respect for the detective, Alexis was a person who had taken what people said at face value. Kate had promised something she could have never delivered. The survival of her family. Maybe this is why she forgave her so easily after the incident because she just wanted to leave.

Her first stop was the Kyumeikan Kendo Dojo. It had one of the best hand to hand combat schools that Tokyo had to offer. When she arrived at the school she worked alongside the best black belts in the school for the first four months, but to her, there was something missing. The courses she had taken were excellent but she wanted more, so much more. With money not being an issue, she asked her teacher if there was another more radical type of training that she could benefit from.

At first, he brushed her off telling her she was just some rich kid who had nothing better to do with her time and money than waste it. But after he worked with her for two years he noticed that she had a determination about her always wanting to know more about the subject she was studying. So giving it a lot of thought he told her that he knew what she wanted to do and if she wanted his help once she accepted his offer there would be no turning back. The training would be strict and it would always be relentless. She accepted his offer and got ready for the second part of her plan. Her teacher knew that there was a force that drove Alexis but could not quite put his finger on what drove her so hard. She had spent all of her time well here and never showed any disrespect towards any of her teachers. She always abided by their customs.

The training location was in the city of Hakodate. It was about three hours north of Tokyo. The train ride there was remarkable. The countryside was amazing. Nothing like the states had to offer. She barely had time to eat when the announcement was made that they were getting ready to arrive in Hakodate. Collecting her belongings she got off the train. Scanning the crowd for the man she had an image of in her mind was proving harder than she thought.

Walking up and down the train platform, no one met her so she found a shady area and waited. Fifteen minutes went by and still no one contacted her. Her teacher in Tokyo told her she would be met by an older gentleman and he could be possibly be running late so do not worry. His name was Kei. He observed Alexis from a hidden area of the train station. He was curious about her and what she did with her idle time.

He watched her for about 20 minutes and now that he was satisfied he moved in to meet her. Walking up to her she looked perplexed not believing who was in front of her. He introduced himself and said to her "Konnichiwa Castleson" She bowed as is the custom and stated "Kon'nichiwa Kei. Watashinonamaeha arekushisudesu. O ai dekite kōeidesu. (Good afternoon Kei. It is a pleasure to meet you) He was amazed at her command of the Japanese language and said in broken English "your Japanese is excellent where did you learn to speak it like that?" Alexis replied "I had a great instructor from Okinawa. I learned the language when I was very young and it just stuck with me ever since."

He might have underestimated her. He told her "even though you are able to understand my language I would like you to state all your future conversations in English. She agreed. He was not at all what she expected he was in his late eighties at least. He stood about five feet tall and did not have one ounce of fat on his body. He sported a traditional Fu-Manchu beard.

Alexis wanted to know more about Kei it was in her nature. So she started asking him questions. He just observed her. He could tell that she was getting a little frustrated when he did not reply. So she just stopped walking altogether. "Is this your solution?" She looked at him with respect and said "I try to know everything about the environment I am a part of." He thought to himself she was going to be a very disciplined student, but would she want to learn what he had to teach her?

The remaining walk back to his compound from the train station went quickly by. Neither saying a word. The sun was just about to set. Upon reaching his home Kei introduced his wife to Alexis. After this was done he offered her something to eat for dinner. It was a basic meal of rice, kani (crab), ika (squid) and hotate (scallops) and to wash it down a full cold glass of soy milk. With dinner finished Kei excused himself from the table asking Alexis to accompany him. He made his way down a narrow hallway. Turning to his left he showed her the training gym. Looking in she noticed that there was also a very large room off the right side of the gym but it looked like it has not been used in quite a while. Kei traveled back towards the hallway again and then made a right turn coming to a very small and very sparse room. "This will be your living quarters for the next two years young one. This room is used only for meditating and resting. Nothing else will be done in this room" Alexis nodded

Training started the next morning before the sun ever came up. An eight mile run started the day off even before she was allowed to eat. She thought to herself _this is not going to be as easy as I thought._ After her run, there was a single bowl of rice and a glass of water waiting for her when she returned. She had made the run in about forty minutes. Her physical exercise changed from day to day. Since they were near the coast swimming was inserted into her regiment. Finished with her rice bowl she spent about four hours working with the free weights and toning her legs and upper body. After her physical training part of her day was done Kei brought her to a converted bedroom which was now the one room of three she was allowed to enter into. In it, there was a basic blackboard, a desk and only one window which was made of rice paper so you couldn't even look out of it. This is where she would learn everything about the ways of the martial arts of the past. Kei had told her that there were only a handful of people who had completed this training and they were the last of the ninja's. Alexis laughed to herself when Kei mentioned the ninjas. Dad always had an obsession with them. Kei taught her that unlike the modern martial arts that were taught now, there was no discipline associated with the learning of the art. He told her "This will all change in this room are you ready" Alexis agreed. Her days were filled with every possible tactical move that could be thrown at her. Kei was noticing how she could almost anticipate what he would throw at her before he actually did it.

A year had passed and Alexis had advanced further than Kei could have imagined. He was amazed at the way she concentrated. Now would be the last and final phase of her training. After returning from her pre-dawn run absent was the daily morning rice bowl. Alexis searched for Kei but found no trace of him in the compound. Suddenly she heard a noise and turned to see what it was. Nothing was there. From above Kei was hanging from the ceiling rafter inching slowly to the top of her head. In his hand was a wadded up cloth with enough chloroform to knock out an elephant. Lowering his hand but still out of her view he smothered the cloth to her face. Alexis's eyes fluttered she tried to defend herself but since Kei was hanging upside down her counter attack was useless. Hours later she woke with a king-sized headache. She looked around the room she thought she was in but seeing no sliver of light anywhere she had to blink to make sure her eyes were still working. Getting up and feeling around in the dark she assessed that she was confined in a very small cell. Very bad thoughts had entered her mind. She wondered if this was a part of her "torture training" but couldn't rule anything out. She was hungry having had nothing to eat since last night. She thought she was out cold for about six hours so it would be close to noon. It was getting hot due to it almost noon but there was more heat than usual. It must have climbed to about 115 degrees in this room. Just then ten floodlights powered up and the room was filled with a bright light leaving nothing dark. Now this is different she thought. After the floodlights were on for about four hours and with the additional heat in the room she needed to cool her body down. Removing her running suit she was left with her running shorts and a sports bra. It helped, but not enough. It was impossible to see where she was because of the brightness of the floodlights. The lights stayed on well into the night. Her stomach was telling her brain that it needed some type of nutrition. Getting weaker she finally passes out around two-thirty the following morning.

Kei was impressed with her problem solving skills, from what he observed on the closed circuit TV cameras not only had she adapted to the heat of the room by removing her unneeded clothing but she also went into a meditation mode and kept her captivity in her mind at bay. Now comes the next challenge.

When Alexis woke again she was bombarded by very loud music it was so loud she could not even identify what type of music it actually was. She only felt like she got about three hours of sleep but about five feet in front of the cell there on the floor was a bowl of rice and a bottle of water. She needs to get to the rice and water but with it being so far from her she needed to do some quick problem solving in order to get the food.

Formulating a plan she ripped the cuff of her running suit to roll up two little pieces of cloth. Quickly squeezing them into her ears the sound of the music deadens immensely. The cell bars have enough space between them for her to swing her running pants the distance to try and drag the rice over. Gauging the distance from her to the water and rice she tears the material the distance to hook the rice. Making a lasso at the end of her makeshift rope and after several attempts, she is successful enough to get the rice bowl. She is not so lucky trying to reach the water. Her lasso knocked it over and it rolled away. She inhaled the rice but her stomach could have used a lot more. The music seems to get a lot louder but she does what she did the day before with the lights. She disconnects everything from where she is and thinks about her Dad and Grams. This is the place in her mind where she can go to never forget him or her. Her mind is in a type of suspended animation. She has been caged for eight days now and the punishment has been a combination of bright lights, loud music, dripping water on the top of her cell, and the icing on the cake was that she had not eaten anything solid since day two.

Kei has witnessed enough. She is a very formidable woman. Everything comes to a stop in the room and Alexis collapses on the floor. The door opens and Kei walks into the dimly lit room. He makes his way over to the front of the cell inserts and twists the key in the lock he slowly swings the door open. Alexis lies on the floor but when Kei raises her up knowing that she is this weak and unstable at holding up her up own weight Kei catches her after she starts to fall. He carries her bridal style to her room but before her eyes close she looks through the gym and notices that he has removed her from the room off the gym that has never been used. He places her down on the bed. Giving her a bottle of water she greedily sucks it down finishing the bottle in gulps. Sleep is all that's on her mind. Kei tells her "It's okay now young one we will talk in the morning." All she could do is think about where and what Kate, Lanie and the boys were doing before falling off to a much needed deep sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Kei Fujioka was a soldier in the Japanese Imperial Army who served in the Second World War. It was an honor he committed himself to duty for his country. His was sworn to protect and defend an island that if the U.S Forces had managed to overtake with terrible losses and would most certainly be a turning point in this war. The fighting was fierce on the island he defended and there were a couple of times he almost lost his life to the advancing Americans. This was the last thing he thought of when he was captured by the U.S. advancing forces. He was taken as a P.O.W. a title he did not really relate to or relish. He was a soldier in the Imperial Army and his mission was to evade his imprisonment and gather intelligence about where he was until his demise. Although the war was almost at its end and after 5 failed escape attempts he was released after 3 years of imprisonment.

Upon returning home, he would not even acknowledge his wife's existence. His wife knew that he was in a very dark place, but she let him do what was needed to get himself right with the world. He was okay with this, but his mission was clear, and he was dedicated to creating a martial arts school that will give his students an edge in any type of situation. Especially one that he lived through. He would never say what the American's had done to him, but their torture tactics were so more far advanced than what his army had been able to do to the American POW'S. Taking a page out of their playbooks, he adjusted the tactics to be a little easier on Alexis when the time came. He was pleased with the way things had advanced with Alexis' "Torture Imprisonment" He looked in on her and she was still fast asleep. With this, he moved into the gym and opened up the door that led to the dreaded cage Alexis' was stuck on for eight days. It was so much like what the Americans had kept him for over 3 years, only getting the basic staples to support life. Rice and water. It was then he realized that he needed to escape from his captors. All in all, he tried to escape 5 times and if it were not for a really toothy German Shepard he might have gotten back to the jungle without being caught the sixth time. When the war ended he was stripped of his rank and disgraced after not being capable of escaping the enemy forces that held him as a P.O.W. He was shunned by his country as were many of the other P.O.W.'s that he was with and that did not manage to escape from the U.S. Marines. This was fine with him….he was still among the living and not the type to regret his actions. So even though it was not a popular idea he decided to open his martial arts school with the teachings of Grandmaster Jae C. Shin. He taught Kei everything he knew to get his school off the ground.

Kei had looked in on Alexis and noticed that she was having a terrible nightmare. He observed her movements for at least a ½ hour. He was rethinking his training tactics. He wanted to give her all the tools she could possibly need for the task she contracted him for. Although he wondered what she needed his training for exactly, he decided to do a little background investigating on one Alexis Castle.

NY City was going through one of its worst heat waves in recent years. It was only June and it actually felt like mid-July. Temps were hovering at just about One hundred and five degrees. Kate had just returned back to her car and was sweating up a storm, hell it was only a short walk from the current crime scene to the car and she was soaked.

The only comment Espo had made was "Crank up the A/C in this bad boy so we can at least be a little comfortable for the ride back."

She did and her mind went off into a daydream state. She was brought back to when she had promised Alexis that her Dad and Grams would be okay at the bank, and how wrong she was in telling her this. She had lost the only link to Castle she had because Alexis had vanished off the face of the earth. After, even with all her resources at the NYPD she only found out that Alexis had caught a flight to Tokyo Japan and left about a month after the funeral and the private eye she hired lost her movements after that.

When they arrived back at the precinct Espo had noticed that Kate was not answering anything he asked her about the current case that they were working on. After parking the unmarked car in the 12th precincts underground garage, he had to call her name four times to snap her out of her thoughts. She had not even realized how they were where they were. Espo asked, "Kate is anything wrong"? She replied with "I was just thinking about Alexis and where she could have gone after she arrived in Tokyo." Espo had talked at length with Lanie about this and told Kate that she probably needed to get away from New York for a little. Little did Kate know…but both Javi and Lanie had inside knowledge of Alexis' location but only until about 2011. After that, they both had not received any word from her since then.

Kei had done just what he said he would. He hired a very resourceful investigator not far from the NYPD's 12th precinct. This investigator had found out a wealth of information about his five targets. Not only was Alexis Castle wealthy beyond her means, she was not one to flaunt her wealth. She had acquired it in the worst possible way. Her father had died a couple of years ago and she inherited ½ of his fortune but was restricted from receiving the full amount until she turned 25. Her best friends were Kate Beckett and Lanie Parish. Kate Beckett was a Detective 1st grade at the 12th. Her case closure was one of the highest in the city. She was there when Alexis' dad had died and after reading the notes from the investigator he knew that there was something more to their relationship. Lanie Parish had mentored Alexis in an internship with the ME's office. She had learned a lot in a short amount of time. The other two detective's Ryan and Esposito were partners at the 12th and were working with Beckett. He sat down and thought about what to do next.

Alexis woke with a start, she was dreaming about that day so long ago when her world came to an abrupt end. She dreamed that they did survive the blast in the bank and she was having lunch with her Dad at a trendy midtown eatery. Becoming more aware of her surroundings coming out of her sleep and the items surrounding her told her that this was not the truth. Her mind went over everything that she had experienced during her imprisonment trying to piece the last week together but only came up with the following facts she had not eaten anything in 7 days, hated the music that blared intensively, and really needed a hot shower. Beyond that, her mind drew almost a total blank.

Kei was at the small dining table when she walked in. She just stopped and studied him. He motioned to her to take a seat next to him. She sat down looking at him a little perplexed. "Alexis is there something you wish to share with me?" She was looking into his weary eyes and said "I have no idea what you are speaking of." He looked a little more disappointed and asked the same question again. This time, after all, she had been through giving him an answer that he might understand. "Kei, my father and grandmother were killed in a botched bank robbery about 4 years ago." I have been getting ready to get justice for their deaths. Kei had thought this was the path that she wanted to follow but was not exactly sure until just this moment. He bowed his head and said, "Are you sure that this is the way to seek what they wanted"? Alexis looked a little bitter at his comment and she was one to never disrespect anyone, but she told him "Kei I will make those bastards pay for leaving me an orphan. This was their fault and they started it I am only here to finish what they started."

Kei hung his head knowing that there was a conflict within her. He asked her if she might depart from her current path, she said that her father believed in what people said to him never doubting them he had always told the truth no matter what the outcome would have been. The world had lost a great man when his life was cut so short but no she would continue her training and use her skills to vindicate her father and grandmother. With her last statement, Kei offered her these last words "Alexis just remember that there is always someone or something that might be a little more forceful than you even with all that you have learned and what I have taught you there is always someone who has trained harder and has a discipline that exceeds yours."

Kei told Alexis to return to her room and get ready for the next part of her journey/training. He had placed a call to one of his oldest and closest army buddies. Explaining to him what was going on he was a little apprehensive about training her but Kei insisted he give her the benefit of the doubt. Hanging up the phone, he sat there and wondered if this was the right thing to do he was lost in thought when his wife walked up behind him and softly asked "This is not what you had expected was it Kei?"

"No, I am fearful that Alexis will be going up against a foe that she might not have an edge over both physically and intellectually. Her training will be put the test."

Alexis had until the end of the day to get her belongings packed up. Her training here was instrumental and she thought that she was prepared for whatever might be thrown in her direction. Still she wondered what her next level of training she would be subject to. Walking out to the dining area, she met Kei and his wife. Seeing that she was ready to go Kei gave her the address for her final phase of training. Bowing she thanked Kei and his wife for all they have done for her. Turning to leave Kei told Alexis "Be aware of your enemies, they come in forms that can sometimes be unrecognizable".

Alexis turned towards the door and looking back at Kei she thought she noticed a tear running down his cheek. Arriving at the train station, she waited on the platform for the next train. She would never admit this, but she started to become tearful the second she closed his front door. The ride would be about two hours and it would be great to see other people. The only drawback of Kei's training was that there was no contact with the outside world. She was moving to a refreshment vendor to buy a bottle of water for the train ride when she thought she noticed a man watching her he was dressed in black but when she turned to see if he was there, there was no one there at all. "totally ninja like" she thought to herself. Waiting for the train to arrive she thought back to her friends in the city. She had kept them in the back of her mind, but now she missed them immensely. Her training was quickly coming to a close and then she would put all she had learned into keeping the city that she had loved and missed safe again.

Kei's friend met her at the train station and after an hour ride by bicycles, he took her to his compound and set her up in a room where everything was provided for her. Her weapons training started the following morning and she needed to get a good nights sleep. Hitting the pillow she was instantly asleep and slept soundly.


	5. Chapter 5

After having a great nights sleep Alexis starts her day with a 4-mile run and then made her way over to the pool for a couple of laps. After completing her small workout she got redressed into tan and brown cammo army fatigues. Her instructor had been on a lot of missions both sanctioned by his government and some not. It was the ones that were not that she had wanted to know most about, the fact that a man could take another persons life from so far away amazed her.

Her basic training started with hand guns. Field stripping, cleaning, loading and becoming accurate with their use. Six weeks later she graduated to the long guns. Most every type of sniper rifle was at her disposal. Barrett XM 109, SSG 2000, Sig Sauer SSG 3000, and a Walther WA 2000. Her instructor had made it perfectly clear that he could teach her how to fire any sniper rifle, but her skill would come from months or years of practice to be good at what she needed to do. This is a skill that she needed to acquire in order to be proficient.

Kate, Ryan, and Espo had pooled their cash together to find a decent investigator in Japan. Alexis was a person who had her life mapped out with little variation fro her plan. They wanted to know what was going on with her. After finding a decent investigator, he told them he would not stop until he found out something. While Alexis was waiting for the train he had found her waiting at the station. Before she could notice he was there he had disappeared into the crowd of people. He had sent his clients in New York his findings. He had been watching her for about a month and now that she had moved to another part of the country he thought it might be time to report in. Kate had looked to Espo and Ryan and motioned to the break room and they got the message.

With them all there Kate pulls out the pictures and his written report that the investigator had sent them. Laying them out on the break room table they look at them with utter panic and what they see is a very well disciplined Alexis Castle.

The pictures were taken on a passenger train platform she looked like a little worse for the wear but she was alive and really that's all that mattered to them. Now Kate was left alone with the pictures and she wondered what Alexis was up to. She never thought that Alexis would do something like this with her life, but they did not have the total story about why she was there in Japan. The investigator had also made it clear that this was just a preliminary report and that he was going to move up north to where she was heading and see what he could find out there. After reading the report and placing all the photos back into the manilla envelope she walked back to her desk and secured the file. Looking at her current case, today was going to be a tough day.

Alexis had become very proficient at using a sniper rifle. Her weapons instructor had placed her within the top 25 snipers in the world, she was that good. Seven months later her training was now complete. She booked the next flight back to JFK later this afternoon and started packing for her return trip. Japan had been a very good learning experience and now with all that she has mastered, she will return home and put what she learned to good use. This is the next page in my life she thought to herself. Getting her boarding pass ready she moved over to the jet way that led her to the 747 that would take her back to NYC. Handing the boarding pass to the attendant she walked down the ramp and settled into first class. Placing her carry-on in the overhead bin she sat down in the comfortable seat. She was finally going home, her mind drifted to her friends back in New York. All good thoughts but she would need to keep up a front with them when she did get home. She would not jeopardize her plan after all she had been through. This was going to be a long flight and 14 hours will give me a lot of time to think about how I need to start the next chapter in my life. Alexis was one who could misdirect what ever she was thinking about and she would need to do this back home on a larger scale.

The flight home was right on time coming into JFK. Gathering her carry on she made her way off the plane. The car service had been there waiting for her right when she walked out of customs. It was Joe her father's old driver.

"Welcome back Miss Castle" Joe was happy to see her. Alexis responded back "Hi Joe it's good to see you, how are you doing?" very good was his answer. "So where to Alexis?" She needed to get back to the loft and told him so. "Joe, can you take me back to the loft?" Twenty-five minutes later they were pulling up in front of the loft. She had made sure everything was up kept while she was gone and the staff she had hired to clean and air the loft out did a great job taking care of the property. Entering the loft it had been 5 years ago since she had done this last. Memories came flooding back and her eyes started to tear up. Walking into the loft she looked over the apartment and everything was just as it was when she left years ago. Heading over to the kitchen to satisfy her grumbling stomach she prepared a tossed salad and threw in some sliced chicken pieces to give it some zing. Sitting at the table she ate her meal.

She would get her body adjusted to the new time zone and then later she would visit her Dad and Grams and see how they were. But now it was time for rest because she did not sleep a wink on the plane. Drawing the shades closed being it was 11 am she fell into her dad's bed and within seconds she was sleeping soundly.

Her eyes were darting under her eyelids. She was reliving their deaths over again. It always turned out the same they both died and she was left alone. She remembers slapping Kate and then instantly regretting it. She dreams about the pain she had felt when she lost her Grams. It felt like she had lost everything that day. Hours later she wakes up in a cold sweat...

 **AN: Today is a sad day for the fans of Castle. ABC has decided to pull the plug on a great show. After 8 seasons we as fans will never forget what this show has given us. If things were handled differently over at ABC I'm sure that Satna, Tamala, and Penny would have never been released from their roles. Budgetary reasons...yeah right. I will keep on (trying, even though I'm not the best at it) to write stories here. After I finish up the 4 I have idle I will be posting a new one soon. RIP Castle!**

 **P2P**


	6. Chapter 6

After reliving the nightmare once again, she got up, changed her tank top and sleep shorts she fell back to sleep. When she woke from just about 15 hours of sleep Alexis felt like she could take on the world. True to her word she got up showered and went down to the garage and took inventory of what she could get around in the city in. There was the Ferrari, the Benz, and an older Harley Fat Boy. Feeling adventurous the bike it was.

Hitting the start button the engine roared to life. Strapping her helmet to her head she quickly moves through NYC traffic. Her first stop was where Grams and Dad were. Arriving at Trinity Church Cemetery she parked the bike and walked over to where they were buried. The headstones were perfect, she had never seen them before because they were not installed until after she arrived in Japan. Grams stone described her to a T: Martha Rodgers Born July 22nd 1937- Died October 18th 2010 Beloved Mother, Grandmother and damn great Broadway actress. Dads was a little more reserved: Richard Edgar Castle Born April 1st 1969-Died October 17th 2010 Beloved son & father. Best selling author.

She really needed to see them and she did just that. She had about an hour long conversation with them both telling them what was going on in her life from then to where she is right now. She will never get over losing them. Laying down a single red rose for each of them at their headstones she notices that someone has been here recently. On the top of his headstone there is a child's teddy bear with a police uniform sitting there looking down. Looking around she notices nothing out of the ordinary. She will ask the groundskeeper as to who might have left it. Grabbing her helmet off the seat she swings a leg over the seat and straddles the machine. Firing the Harley to life she wants to go visit an old friend. Maneuvering the bike she makes her way to the exit of the cemetery. She and Paige has been emailing each other since she left for Japan. She decided to go and see her. The fact that there in no parking anywhere near her apartment she has to park the bike about 2 blocks away from her place. Walking the 2 blocks she looks out onto 5th ave and notices Kate Beckett driving slowly by in an unmarked police car. Moving quickly she ducks into the crowd hoping Kate did not notice her, but she was not too sure if she was spotted.

Ringing Paige's doorbell she opens the door and jumps into Alexis' waiting arms. She has missed her friend. "So how was Japan?"

"Oh Paige, you can not believe how beautiful that country actually is" Taking her black leather coat and hanging it up she settles into the love seat and waits for Paige to return.

"Alexis can I get you anything?" She asks if she can get a glass of water and Paige brings out a glass and a pitcher of water.

"So spill how was your extended trip and did you meet anyone?"

Alexis tells Paige this was all business and there was no time for a social life. "Really Alexis 4 years without a man have you sworn yourself to celibacy?"

"Paige I was on a path to become better for my Dad and Grams, and I think I have come through with where I need to be now."

Paige understands somewhat and asks Alexis if she would like to meet for dinner one night in the village. Alexis agrees and they set up to meet sometime next week. They talk for about 3 hours catching up and talking about everything from men to the classes Paige is currently taking at NYU. Alexis finds out that Paige wants to become an intelligence operative for large corporation thinking she could be an asset she thinks that she could use her with her ongoing project. A bit reserved she wants to find out more information on her progress at school. Dinner next week will be the perfect opportunity and she will use it to get the information she needs.

Saying goodbye she heads back to her bike and makes plans to see the next person on her list. Wheeling through midtown traffic heading south she pulls up in front of the 12th precinct and dismounts her bike. Walking down to the parking garage she is stealth like with her movements and finds what she is looking for, Detective Beckett's unmarked car. Retrieving a slim jim she makes quick work of the locked car door. Placing an envelope above the visor she quickly re-secures the car and leaves the same way she entered. Mounting her bike she leaves the 12th. She figures that the phone call will come within an hour or two since it was almost quitting time.

Kate was trying to solve a case that she thought was to be a open and closed, but every time they had a solid lead the evidence just fell apart along with the lead. They only could hold the suspect for 12 more hours and he would be kicked free if they could not find anything solid to place him at the scene. Ryan thought he could place him at the crime scene with a ping from his cell phone, but the ADA dismissed that theory because the ping as he called it was too wide of an area so putting the suspect exactly at the scene of the crime could be impossible. The ADA did not want to get this case thrown out for lack of evidence. Kate was frustrated so she called Ryan and Esposito over to her desk. "Guys we need something to put this suspect at the crime scene" They both look a her knowing leaving on time is now not going to happen. All three of them walk back to the murder board and start going over all the notes so far. After an hour Kate looks at them and says "Why are you both looking for something that we all know is not there?"

Ryan looks closer at the 2nd crime scene picture and asks Beckett "What kind of car does our suspect drive?"

She looks at him and says "I think he drives a BMW why?"

"Well what color was it?"

"Red I think" Kate answers wondering what he is going in his head.

"I think I might have something here but there is not not much to go on because we can't get a plate number off the car in this picture."

"This red car looks a lot like a BMW 5 series."

Espo thinks a second "Wait, what if we can follow that car from the crime scene with traffic or ATM cams?" They are scouring the footage for the car and after about 3 hours they think they have the suspect's car driving away from the crime scene. Looking at footage from a different camera the tech was able to pull up a good, clear picture of the suspect driving his BMW away from the murder scene. They presented the ADA with the new evidence they had just found. He was very pleased now with the video evidence, they also had fibers and a palm print to tie him to the scene. The ADA would file charges against him and move him from holding over to the tombs in the morning.

Gathering at the elevator all three detectives talk about the case they just closed. Happy it was over they stepped onto the elevator and they all ride down to the lobby. Kate asks Ryan and Espo if they need a ride home and Ryan tells her Jenny is waiting outside, Espo says he will take a cab home. Walking down the sidewalk she turns into the garage. Getting out her car keys she places the key in the lock and opens the door. Getting in and closing the door she instinctively looked up and saw the envelope quickly exiting the car she placed her hand on the butt of her gun and she scans the garage but did not see anything that was suspicious. Getting back into the car she pulls down the visor and the envelope lands in her lap. Picking it up she opens it and removes the paper inside of it.

It read: Detective Beckett I know your every move. We need to talk. Meet me at the south west corner of 23rd street and 2nd avenue at exactly 9pm. Park your car and do not leave it. Come alone with NO back up. I will know.

Kate got a shudder down her spine and this worried her. Who was this and why do they need to meet with her. She was not about to meet this person but then the cop in her had gotten the better of her. Starting her car she had about 45 minutes to be at the meet location. With traffic she would have about 20 minutes to grab something to eat, so with such time constraints she decided to forgo dinner. Wheeling the Crown Vic around 22nd street and 2nd avenue she was doing a little recon before actually going to the meet location. She still had 10 minutes before the meet but driving around she really did not notice anything alarming. Pulling up to the location she parked the car and waited.

Alexis was perched in an apartment building with a good view of 23rd and 2nd ave. She was watching the meet location and had seen Kate make her first and second recon runs. Kate was methodical if anything. She would be meeting with her later but needed to pick up a couple of things first. Heading to the sporting goods store not too far from the meet location she purchased a balaclava and a pair of good leather gloves. She did not want to be identified by the detective by any means. Having made her purchases She proceeded to 23rd and 2 ave. Setting her sights on Kate's light blue Crown Vic she pulled the balaclava over her fire red short hair. Slipping the gloves onto her hands she lifted the door handle and entered the car. Kate was about to turn to see who entered but then A digitally synthesized voice said "Eyes front do not look back" Kate obeyed. The voice then said "Detective Beckett I am here to start a new relationship one that you WILL be participating in and together with your help we will rid this city of crime and deceit running rampant and that has now taken a stranglehold of this city."

Kate said "Who are you"

The reply came "Who I am is not important. All you need to know is that I will be in contact when I need you. You will be at my disposal with no questions asked."

Kate said "Do you really think that I am going to agree to something like this?"

"Well Detective I don't really care what you are agreeable to but I know that you are no position to deny me what I am asking of you so you don't have a choice either way. There are skeletons in your closet that I could exposed that would end your career with the NYPD."

Alexis knew that that was a lie but she was playing her trump card, she knew Kate was as by the book as they came and squeaky clean. "So detective until we meet again try to take care of yourself and try to eat something will you, you are beginning to look malnourished and that's not a good thing. I will call you when we need to talk again."

Before Kate realized it the back seat of her car was again empty. Looking in the rear view mirror she noticed a dark figure walking quickly down 2nd avenue. Wild thoughts ran through her head and she wondered who this was and what did they have to hold over her head. Starting the car she worked her way across town to her apartment. Walking up to her place she entered cautiously not knowing if it was clear to enter. Seeing that it was safe she collecting today's mail and walking over to the refrigerator she viewed what was there to eat. There was not much. Thinking that Hop-Sings was open 24/7 she placed an order to be delivered. 30 minutes later the order arrived and she ate heartily. Removing the micro digital recorder from her jacket pocket she replayed the conversation between the visitor and herself.

Whoever this person was they were very very careful. All her recording device picked up was Kate's voice and when the visitor spoke it was all hissing and static noises. _"covering your tracks, huh just who in the hell are you"_ She thought to herself...


	7. Chapter 7

Alexis had returned back to the loft. She had an idea that Kate would try to find out who she was by trying to record her voice, but Alexis had anticipated her move even before she entered the her cruiser. She had the best spy gear that money could buy. The voice altering microphone she had placed on her throat had done the trick. Now it was on to other tasks. She needed to set up a dinner date with her friend Paige. Getting information from her would be tricky but it was a job she knew that needed to be done to move forward with her plan. But it would have to be done very carefully.

Paige had just sat down to her microwaved meal. Sticking her fork into the cardboard like Salisbury steak, she thought back to Alexis's visit the other day. She needs something, but she was not too sure what it was. She was her friend and would do anything for her, but not seeing her for almost 5 years she had her a little suspicions. Finishing her sad excuse for a meal she cleaned up her place setting and made her way over to the living room, turned on the TV to get in her favorite show..."Bones"

While in the loft, Alexis thinks back to the bank bombing and what Kate's last words to her were before her father had died. "I promise you that they will be okay!" these words haunted her ever since that day. And it was the reason she had become what she was now.

Paige's phone rang and she answered it only to hear Alexis' voice on the other end. "Hey, Paige how are you?" She answered with "Alexis I am great how are you?"

Alexis tells her "I'm doing well, you know I was thinking about us and catching up on Monday of this upcoming week, do you have any plans?"

Paige knows there is something Alexis is not saying out loud on purpose. So she tells Alexis that Monday would be a great day to meet. She asks where and what time, Alexis responds with "How about 6 p.m. at Le Cirque on 151 east 58th street?" She agrees but needs to let her know that she is not made of money and before she can make that statement Alexis says "It will be my treat okay?" agreeing, the date is set.

The CSU division of the 12th precinct has been working tirelessly on trying to recover any clue that would revel the identity of the person on the tape that Detective Beckett had sent over to them. They were all hesitant about placing the call to her and let her know that they had come up with nothing. The only thing they actually had was that the recording she had whoever was speaking on the tape was well prepared for being recorded. Whoever this was had a type of miniature scrambling device. They decided that the senior CSU team member would tell the the lowest person on the totem pole to tell her the news. So it was CSU Roberts that drew the short straw. Picking up the phone he called her cell phone. "Beckett" came the answer

"Hello Detective Beckett this is CSU Tech Roberts"

"What can I do for you Roberts?"

"I have some news about that tape you sent to us."

"Oh." Kate said

"Well, Detective we ran every type of voice recognition and background noise search on this tape and the only thing we were able to come up with is the fact that the person knew that you would be recording them and had a device that altered the their voice patterns to make it appear that all you would hear is static."

Kate thought to herself _"What the fuck!"_ She demands the tape be reevaluated and the results are sent directly to her. She is not going to be made a fool of by this person dressed in black.

Roberts unwillingly agrees and hangs up the phone. He thinks he dodged a bullet or so he thinks. Little does he know that he has now become the go to guy for calling the detectives in the 12th for reports that they need information for. The joys of being the newbie.

Alexis was one to give anyone anything they wanted but first she would take the time to make sure that they deserved it in the first place. Standing on the roof of an apartment building near Hell's Kitchen she watched patiently as Carol the wife and Sam the husband were interacting after his hard day at work. He must have had a bad day because he walked right past his two loving children and after paying them no attention opened the refrigerator door and took out a beer and a bottle of whiskey and proceeded to set up a boilermaker for himself. Carol knew what was coming next. Once the drinking started the beating would start shortly after because something that he brought home from work would set him off here in the house, the kids or maybe it was the way he did not like the way the house looked when he got home.

Carol had hoped that this night that the kids would not be the victims of his wrath tonight. But she would always be a protective mother and place herself between his displeasure and the children.

Alexis had watched the scene unfolded right in front of her eyes and regretted what she was going to do next. Firing a light weight carbon fiber cable from her perch on the rooftop across the way to the other apartment building the spear had hit it's mark. Wedged between the window jamb and the brick to the cable she tugged on it to make sure the strength was there. Attaching a pulley she coasted across the street below. Landing in through the open window she rolled and stood upright. Undetected is what she was hoping for and she had achieved it. Sam had already had way too much to drink. Her goal was a serious one. It was to keep the children from harm. God knows that Sam had come home in a bad mood almost every night. Alexis had hidden herself adjacent to to the bedroom wall leading into the living room.

Sam had already took 5 or 6 good swings at Carol and at least 3 connected. Looking from her hidden spot near the alcove she noticed the threat. Carol had at least a a black eye forming and then decided that this was the final straw. Moving out from behind the alcove she threw two jabs to his throat and one kick to his groin. Relentlessly she struck him and before she knew it he was laying on the floor clutching his throat. Rolling through the window she grabbed the window sill and then fell gracefully to the cables that supplied power to the building. Dropping to street level about 5 floors below she started walking east towards eighth avenue. Disappearing into the night she made her way back to the loft and tried to steady herself.

Dropping her keys into the dish by the entry door of the loft she peeled off her tight leather coat. A little relaxed she thought about the events that had unfolded at her last encounter. Hoping that Sam had received the message she had sent him and thought about his actions towards his loving family. If need be she would do it all over until he understood. She slipped into the gentle spray of the shower to erase what she had just done from her mind and body.

They were assigned to investigate an assault that had happened around 11pm last night in Hell's Kitchen. Questioning the assignment since there was no dead body involved the three detectives thought their time was better spent solving a more serious crime than a domestic squabble. Captain Gates was a new to the precinct and she was a no nonsense type of cop from IAB. This was her first position commanding detectives in a homicide squad. She would not take any assignment lightly. Due to the fact that Special Victims Unit was stretched pretty thin she volunteered her detectives. They were dispatched to investigate what happened last night and there was to be no argument.

Arriving at the residence of Carol and Sam Peterson she gently knocked on the entry door. Waiting to answer the door Carol had opened it up but it only went to the extent of the chain that stopped the door from opening completely. Kate noticed her black eye right away, "Hello Mrs. Peterson my name is detective Beckett and were here about a domestic issue that happened around 11 last night"

"Come in detective" The door closes and once the chain is slid off the door reopens again giving them full access to the apartment.

"I am not too sure that I know what you are talking about"

"Are you sure about that Mrs. Peterson? It doesn't take a genius to see what has happened to your right eye."

"My husband has a little temper."

"A little temper? I'd hate to see him when he is enraged. Are your children here Mrs. Peterson, I'd like to speak to them."

"Yes, they are in the living room. Kids" she yelled.

"Yes mom"

"Come in here please"

"Okay"

The children come into the kitchen and Carol tells them to answer Kate's questions.

Kate starts out with "Hi kids I am Detective Beckett how are you doing today?"

They both say that the are doing fine.

"I need to ask you two about last night okay?" They nod yes.

"Who can tell me what happened here last night?"

Both children look to each other and then to their mother not knowing what to tell her.

"Kate restates her question but adds "And I want the truth."

Ryan and Espo have just finished their sweep and without speaking to Beckett they let her know that something is up just by facial expressions. Moving back into the kitchen behind her they let her question the children.

"So kids what happened here last night?"

The boy speaks first "It was so cool you should have seen it" She flew into our living room window and somersaulted onto the floor and hid behind that wall" He pointed to the wall near the dining room.

Kate looked lost "people can't fly"

The girl stated "people might not fly but this girl could."

"Girl? she was a female?"

"Yup, she was really skinny and had big arm muscles!"

"Okay what happened next."

"She hid by the wall until daddy walked into the dining room. He had just punched mommy about 6 or 7 times and she was on the floor crying, holding her head. She moved almost like she wasn't even there the next thing we saw was daddy lying on the floor holding his throat and his man parts."

Kate laughed a little at the man parts comment. "Okay, you two what was this girl wearing?"

They both said "She was dressed in black. Everything she wore was black we never saw her face because she had it covered too." Then the boy further describes her coat "She wore a coat like the one they wore in the movie The Matrix. It was really long."

Kate was worried about this and called to Espo to check the exterior of the building. He did and 10 minuets later he showed her what he found. It was a spear made of high strength aluminum. Attached to the spear was about 50 feet of carbon fiber line.

"Yo Beckett, this stuff is way to advanced. I have never seen anything like this. This line here it can probably lift up a car it's that strong, who has stuff like this?"

"I don't know but I know now that I want to find out"

Thanking Mrs. Peterson for her time they all depart and head back to the 12th.

Kate had a shiver run down her spine, she thinks that she might know who this is but she can't really make it known yet. Getting back to the homicide floor Gates stick her head out and asks about the Peterson investigation.

Kate replies with "Sir it was just a simple case of domestic battery and the wife refuses to press charges."

"Okay, Detective while you were gone we had two more body drops so Esposito and Ryan will take the case that's uptown and Detective Beckett you take the one in midtown. They get the addresses for their next cases and head out. But there is something that is gnawing at Kate about the Peterson case...


	8. Chapter 8

Kate and the boys were working the new cases they were assigned by Captain Gates, there were similarities between both of them. Both victims were men and were both murdered by a person who liked up close work. They were murdered by someone taking them out in a way that a trained investigator might have thought it could have been an amateur but this was definitely not the case. Whoever took out these men was precise and efficient. The only odd thing that they came across is the fact that they had lived about 25 minutes apart from each other. Both were married, both had six-figure incomes but neither had any children. The time of death was almost the same time. According to Lanie, they both had died around 2:10 pm. Their wounds were that of a smooth type of blade. They were both taken out by a quick laceration to the throat. This is not what concerned the M.E. It was the fact that they were both killed in the same manner and most likely by the same person.

Kate and Espo and Ryan had returned back to the 12th and almost like a premonition they had noticed that they were looking for the same killer. It was evident with the clues they had on the murder board already, but they thought that there was no way in hell that the same person could have done this. The distance between the two murder scenes was an impossibility for the same person to pull this off. But they had been surprised before.

It was a copycat killer about 3 years ago that had recruited a helper and at exactly the same time they had killed their prey, the method of the act was not the same as what they had now but the time of death was exactly lined up with each murder. The victims were bound and gagged in the center of the room. The victim was the only thing in the room bound to a basic chair. But something was nagging at Kate. This was something that she needed to get a handle on because she had a hunch and she did not like where she was going with what she was thinking. So she got with the boys and brainstormed about what they had and what she had compiled from both scenes.

It was a bit weird but their observations between both cases had been so in sync that they could have been working the same case. Ryan had asked Beckett if there could be anything that connected either of their cases and then it hit her, both men were currently being investigated for taking bribes from city councilmen for getting laws passed to protect the less desirable element in their districts.

/

Alexis Castle was not one to be taken lightly. She had made quick work of Mr. Peterson he was a real douche. He was a man, for better lack of a word who always need to feel superior. So whenever he had a bad day or things did not go his way at work, in the end, either his wife or his children had paid the full price of his anger.

He relented only once when his son was so badly beaten that he was in the hospital for 6 days recovering from a concussion, 2 broken ribs, and 3 deep lacerations to his face and midsection. He was a child not able to defend his father's attacks. He was released to a halfway house approved by the state until his home was thoroughly investigated for any type abuse or mistreatment. The findings were that his parents were upstanding people and they could not see any abuse of their children by their hand.

This is what Alexis had set out to do, find the injustice and correct it.

Kate's cell was ringing and taking it out from its holder to see who was calling all she saw across the small screen was the words blocked the caller. Hitting the accept button she said hello.

The voice on the other end was masked as to not be recognized.

"Hello?"

"Detective Beckett I told you that we would be in touch."

"Who is this" Beckett demanded.

"Right now it is no concern of yours who I am. What I need you to do is be at the PABT (Port Authority Bus Terminal) third level bus departures platform 33 at 8 pm. Bring no one and let no one know where you are going or what you are doing."

The phone went dead. Not knowing who or what this person was or what they wanted she decided to go back to the CSU to see if they had a better handle of who this was by the tape she had sent them. Arriving at the cyber division she looked for the lead sergeant and walked up to him. "I am Detective Kate Beckett and I am wondering if the tape I had your tech review had any leads yet." The sergeant had dropped his head and lifted his hand and pointed to CSU Roberts "The man you need to talk to is at that desk."

Kate spins around to see a young man who can be no older than 25 working on something at his desk. She walks over to his work area and announces herself. "CSU Roberts?"

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"My name is Detective Kate Beckett and I was wondering if you had any leads from the micro tape I had sent to you."

"Well, Detective I might, whoever this was they had a way to cover their tracks." "There were no clues to determine whether this was a male or female. On top of that, the voice altering device that they had used was that of a professional. Really high-end stuff."

"There was no voice per se but there was a signal that turned their voice into static when the tape was replayed, but when you heard them talk the voice was normal to you. With a couple of days, I might be able to narrow down the voice pattern, but that is all I will be able to provide you with."

She looks at him and thanks him and tells him "Keep up the great work."

He watches her turn and leave thinking that was not so bad he can't imagine what the sergeant was thinking when he assigned him to this case.

Returning back to the 12th she had about 3 hours before her meet at the PABT. Espo had already left for home but Kevin always the dedicated cop was still there working.

"Kevin it's almost 5pm why are you still here?" He looked at Kate a little startled and said: "Well you know the paperwork never files itself."

She laughed a little to herself and told him "Kevin, now go and be with Jenny and Sarah Grace. Whatever you are working on will definitely be here in the morning okay?"

He looks at the files in his hand and places them on his desk and asks "Are you sure Kate?"

She tells him that it's fine that he should go home.

He gathers his coat and scarf and throws her a quick smile and heads to the stairwell.

Sitting down at her desk she moves her mouse and wakes her computer and she types in her username and password. Starting with a simple Google search she types in Alexis Castle. All that appears is a basic fluff telling her something she already knows.

: Alexis Castle inherits her novelist father's fortune estimated to be somewhere around 350 million dollars.

: Alexis Castle files lawsuit suing Black Pawn for rights to Nikki Heat book series.

: Alexis Castle wins the lawsuit against Black Pawn and is awarded rights to Nikki Heat series and a monetary value is awarded but the amount is concealed within the court records.

: Alexis Castle is seen departing the country from JFK to Tokyo Japan.

Kate really can't believe that she had seen Alexis in Chelsea about a month ago and wondered to herself if it was really her and if it was why had she not contacted her. Looking down at her watch she noticed that it was almost 6:45 pm. Getting ready to leave she made one more attempt to get in touch with CSU about the tape she had them investigating. The phone rang off the hook, it was after all 5 pm and most of the staff had probably left for the night. Ending the call she gets her mind set ready for her meet. She would be wired for sound just like the last time but she would hope the person who was meeting her would let their guard down so she could have some sort of idea of who they were.

Kate drove her Crown Vic up onto the bus only lane of the terminal. Winding around the bus lanes she had made her first recon sweep. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary she drove over to bus lane 33 and parked her car.

Alexis had thought that most people could be so predictable even with the training they had received from the academy. Kate Beckett was one of these people. No matter how many times her father had taught Kate to think outside of the box she always almost went with police protocol. Watching her make her recon sweep again. Alexis had stowed her binoculars and she made her way down from the 42nd street apartment directly across from the PABT. She had an eye on her from the time she moved up the bus ramp. Now walking across 41st street stepping on the sidewalk that led to the escalators and then into the bus terminal she moved to platform 33. Walking over to Kate's car from behind the right rear quarter panel she opened the right rear door of the cruiser.

Kate was suddenly aware that her unknown visitor had entered her car. "Detective Beckett I am wondering if you had put the pieces together yet.?"

Kate replied, "What no small talk?"

"No Detective, why would you think I'd give you the opportunity to try to identify me with that tape recorder you have recording me right now?"

Kate knew that this was someone who knew about police procedure.

"So Detective Beckett have you figured it out yet?"

Kate is at a loss for what the visitor is trying to tell her.

"Well, Kate let me help you out a little. Mr. Peterson will no longer be beating on his wife and children again, I made sure of that,"

"And as for the murders of the 2 crooked councilmen, I am sure that you have already found out that their TOD was almost exactly the same."

Kate is starting to turn to see her visitor when she hears "Don't even think about it. Eyes front you turn and you will no longer be around to solve your next case."

Kate freezes and asks "Why are you doing this, we are the police and we can take care of the crime within the city."

"Please, Detective I have seen how you handle crime within your city. I am going to need some intel on Mr. Alvarez."

Kate laughs out loud. "Do you really think that I am going to give you any information on the Manhattan Borough President?"

"Well, the way I see it you are in no position to deny me what I am asking of you."

"Oh yeah, what makes you think that?"

"Well for starters I have a .45 caliber Smith and Wesson pointed at the back of your head so I don't think that you are in any position to make any demands."

"And I have seen first hand how well you protect the people of this city, so spare me your speeches, Detective."

"So Detective Beckett I will be in touch within 24 hours, and in that time frame, you will have all the information I have requested on Manhattan Borough President Alvarez."

Kate sighs and nods her head and before she knows it the car is empty again. This time she sees nothing about the person was who sitting in the back of her cruiser. Getting out from behind the wheel she is looking in every direction and sees only people getting on buses and waiting for them too.

She thinks to herself _one time you will slip up and then I will have your ass. No one threatens an NYPD detective with a loaded gun._

Alexis never really had a gun pointed at Kate's head, but sometimes the show of force would make someone think twice about their situation, even is she was a cop. Heading back to the loft she needs to make a couple of phone calls.


	9. Chapter 9

Alexis walked up the stairs to the loft. Still dressed in all black she slipped her key into the doors lock and entered. First order of business was for her to rotate her burner cell phone to the next one in line. No way was she going to jeopardize her identity to such a simple mistake as having any one of her burners traced. Walking over to the bank of numbered stationary phone chargers she placed the current cell phone in the empty charger number 4. Then entering her fathers office and sitting at her fathers desk she moved the mouse to wake her dormant computer. Searching the various websites to locate the information she needed she stumbled onto an official website for Manhattans Borough President Alvarez. It was the same bullshit that she had read on so many other politicians websites. Promising to make New York a better place to live in and do business in it really made her sick to her stomach.

Alexis had found out that Mr. Alvarez was on the take and she was going to secretly leak his wrong doings to the press and city hall but she would need to have some type of insurance policy to back up her information. It seems that his vote to clear the way for a 65 story high rise and attached mall at the skyscrapers base was being bought by the company who needed the contract to raise this building and the construction owner would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. To date the owner of the contracting firm had already "invested" somewhere around four million dollars to Mr. Alvarez's "re-election fund" What Alexis did not know was that Mr. Alvarez was so corrupt that he had decided to do two things to gain himself more cash and protect what he already had. He decided to present his position to a second construction company to see if they were also interested in donating to his "re-election fund." Then he had hired a clean up crew to take care of anyone or anything that came between him and his cash. He thought to himself "It's good to be a politician on the take in NYC."

Putting the word out on the street she had learned that Mr. Alvarez's clean up crew was made up entirely of former special forces personnel. For her this was going to be a challenge. A challenge that she was up for. Placing a untraceable call to detective Beckett's cell phone it rang no more than 3 rings. Alexis knew why the delay in her answering her phone was, Kate thought that she was going to be able to trace her incoming call. What Kate did not know is that the cell phones that Alexis was using were a tracking nightmare. All of her phones had been routed first to the Ukraine and then to the republic of China, then onto a part of the former USSR. And if they were still trying to find her after that she had a program that reset all their tracking software to lead them to Disneyland in California.

Kate looked at the caller ID on her phone and all that came up was blocked caller. Immediately she looked over to the cyber techs across the bull pen and motioned to them that this was the call to trace. Waiting until they were ready she held off answering the call. By the third ring they were ready and she hit accept and answered "Beckett."

"Hello, Detective Beckett." "Do you have the information that I requested?"

"You know that it will be a cold day in hell before I give you any information on anyone in this city especially a Borough President. Who are you anyway?" Kate was trying to keep the caller on for as long as she could.

"Why Detective Beckett I am sorry to hear this from you but you should really think about getting your coat because it's about to get really sub-zero for you."

"Did you think I was kidding about hanging you out to dry? I have the dirt on you that would end your career. If you do not get what I need your career will be over in a heartbeat. Believe me when I tell you that I would have no problem releasing this information I have to end your career as a detective. I will be calling back later today to get the information that I need, oh and detective by the way how is Disneyland?" Then the line went dead.

Kate looks over to the cyber techs and they tell her that the call was almost untraceable, but after tracing it to the Ukraine and then to China and then to Tadzhikistan but they had it narrowed down to Anaheim, California.

Then Beckett understood the reference about Disneyland. The trace ended up being an electronic goose chase. The lead tech had told her that all they had recorded was this low pitched hum when the caller had spoke. Telling the cyber team to go home she walked over to her desk and wondered who this was and what did they have on her. She had never did anything to be put in a situation that would put her career in any kind of danger.

Alexis had to wonder if Kate would ever put all the clues together yet. She thought maybe after a couple of more jobs if she had not figured it out then she would start to be more reveling to her alter ego. Alexis needed to call Paige and ask for a favor. It was around four pm when Paige had answered her phone.

"Hello, " she said.

"Hey Paige it's me, Alexis, I was wondering if you might be able to meet for dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"Alexis I think it would be great to meet for dinner. Where would you like to meet?"

"Can you meet me at Witchcraft? It's at 1 Rockefeller Plaza between 5th and 6th avenues it will be my treat okay?" Paige agrees and asks her if 6:30 that night will be alright?

Alexis thought it was a great time to get together and told Paige that the 6:30 was fine. Paige had told Alexis that there was a case she was working on that needed a little more research to be done but she would be there with no problems. Saying their good byes they both disconnect the call.

Alexis still had time to get some work done before calling Kate back. Her research was going to bring her into very dangerous territory. She needed to figure out the strengths of Mr. Alvarez's clean up crew. She knew that they were all prior military. Probably associated with a hush hush assassination squad, that our government had conveniently forgotten about. So what she would find out would most likely be a cover story for their identity, so she dug very carefully. After about two and a half hours of digging she felt that she had a basic idea of who his crew was. Her next call was to her contact on the street. She needed her contact to run down the names of the crew that she needed information on, recording the names he told her that he would be back in touch with her by later on tomorrow. Alexis would be making the usual payment to the address that he had given her, but she would add a little something extra for getting this information to her so quickly.

With one more call to make she pulled out her burner cell. Dialing Beckett's cell number she waited for her to pick up. It was almost 10pm and she knew that Kate would be at her apartment and there would be no chance that she would be tracing her call.

After the 2nd ring, she answered "Hello"

Alexis thought this was odd because she always answers her phone with Beckett.

"Detective Beckett we need to meet again."

"I am not going to be used like this anymore."

"Why detective what makes you think that I am using you?"

"I am done dealing with you so there will not be another meeting."

"Oh Kate, you seem to think that I am not going to keep your secret for much longer do you?"

"You know what I am a by the book cop and you have nothing on me that can be used to end my career."

"Would you want to wager money on what I have or don't have do you?"

Kate becomes quiet for a second and thinks of her response.

"Go with what you think that you might have and see where it gets you!"

"Okay Kate so are you sure that you want me to leak out how badly you mishandled what happened to seven civilians at the New Amsterdam Bank and Trust five years ago. I am sure that The Daily News or The New York Post will be very interested in what I have to say. I have all the police recordings from that day. So are you sure you still want to do it this way? Because I can. Your career WILL end,I can guarantee it."

The line is silent for about 2 minuets and then Kate asks

"What do you need?"

"Alright Detective I'm glad to see that you are going to play ball with me. I need the full financial records for Mr. Alvarez's re-election campaign and his personal finances as well. Get everything you can on him. I want to know what he has down the last penny."

"Why are you needing this information?"

"Detective Beckett it is not any of your concern as to why I need this information. All I ask is that you get it for me.

"The only fact that you really need to know is that there is a bad element that takes away from the good that needs to be done here in this city."

"When do you need this information by?"

"Tomorrow will be fine I will contact you in the morning to set up a place for us to meet."

"I guess that will be fine, what do I call you?"

"Detective there is no need for us to become friends. Our relationship is one that is strictly professional in nature, and I have no friends nor do I need any."

There is a silence between them before Kate speaks next. "I am not asking to be your friend I just want to know what to call you when we meet."

"Until tomorrow detective"

With that Alexis ends the call. Tomorrow will be a very interesting day, to say the least.

Kate was staring at her cell phone she held in her hand with a panicked look on her face. It had been over five years since she had heard those words said out loud. Was this just a way of this person saying good night or was what they said had a meaning behind it. Kate did not know what to think about her mystery caller. She did know one thing though, she would be getting some answers come hell or high water.

Going through her nightly routine before bed that phrase kept gnawing at her _"Until tomorrow."_ She last heard this phrase on the night before Castle had died. He had called her to make sure that she had arrived at home safely. Then she said good night to him and then he responded: "until tomorrow detective."

Slipping into her warm and comfortable bed it was a while before she fell into a deep deep sleep. She slips into the dream that has haunted her since that day she lost him. The dream always starts the same way. She is never there in time to save him and Martha and just like all the other times it always ends the same way with him dead and her brokenhearted and alone.

Alexis was wondering if this clue would lead Kate in the right direction. It was not that she wanted to be caught she really just wanted to have the relationship she had with her before all this happened. Of course there would be no way that she would ever stop doing what she needed to do to make this city a safe place to live. Changing into her sleep wear she gets into bed and falls asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Alexis was startled awake by three loud knocks the lofts door. Getting out of bed she walked over to the front door and then seeing the plain brown envelope that was slid under the door she does not bother to open it, she knew that her street contact had came and gone. Her street contact was very good at getting her any type of information she needed. She picked up the brown 8x11 envelope and opened it up as she walked back to her office. Entering she pulled out the surveillance pictures of Mr. Alvarez's crew and a typed up report.

They were all prior military and possibly all from the same unit. Hanging their pictures on her white board she studied her adversary's with respect. Something she had learned when she was in Japan. Her CI had found out just about everything they had done since they were old enough to drive. There were four of them. All of them had the basic training but only two of them had advanced training to equal her own training. The thought that worried her the most is that these men would have no problem taking her out if they were given the chance. She just needed to be on her "A" game when the time came. Reading through the written documents she worked thoroughly to come up with a plan that would deal with Alvarez's hired muscle. Going over it again she felt satisfied with what she was going to do. But now it was time to call Kate.

Kate Beckett had the rare freedom of sleeping in late. Since it was a Saturday she had little to do today. The extra added bonus was that she was off for the next 3 days, pending any body drops. Just lying in her bed she kept going back to the statement that the caller said to her right before the line went dead, _Until tomorrow, detective._ This had her thinking that it was not a way for someone who did not know her to say good night. But there was no one she knew who could use that phrase, alive anyway. Deciding to get out of bed, she made her way to the shower and stepping in it felt good just to stand there under the soft spray of the tepid water traversing over her body. After toweling off she got dressed in sweat pants and one of Rick's old flannel shirts. It was the plaid one she never gave back to him after she had been a guest at his place after her apartment had blown up so long ago. His scent was long gone from repeated washings but her memory of him is still there.

Heading over to her coffee maker she made herself a cup and turned and looked at the file folder on the kitchen counter. It contained the information that her mystery caller had wanted on Mr. Alvarez, but after she looked over the files she found nothing out of the ordinary. Taking her coffee she sat down with the file and started to re-read it again. After looking at his reelection accounts she noticed a couple of anomalies. Then looking at his personal accounts he had three she noticed that the 3rd account was just used for large deposits only. She matched those deposits with funds from his campaign accounts and found and noticed funds were transferred between the two accounts. But there was only a balance of $122,034.88 in his third account. It shows almost nine million going in but then the day it was deposited it was transferred to a phantom account. She had all his account information but there was nine million unaccounted for.

Alexis had been thinking back to her dinner with Paige last night. It was great reconnecting with her in so many ways. She had missed her while she was away. Now all this would change, they had agreed to meet at least once a week to talk about what was going on in their lives and have a good meal together. Then Alexis needed to let her in on a little secret, she was not going to reveal everything she was doing but just enough to get Paige to do what she needed her for. When dinner had ended she slid a letter envelope across the table to Paige.

"What's this Alexis?"

"What I do sometimes puts my life in certain dangerous situations. Inside of that envelope is information that you will need to turn over to various media outlets and the city's corporate council if the event of my untimely demise. With you being a lawyer I know that what I give you, you will keep in the strictest of confidence."

Paige looks at Alexis with concern for her but when Alexis meets her eye to eye her look softens a little. Understanding she asks...

"Do you think it will ever come to that?"

"I am not sure but if you do not receive a call from me within 72 hours from now you are to release what is in that envelope. And one more thing...do not open it for any reason except to fax it to the parties who need it. I'll call you telling you when the 72 hours will start."

Paige looks at Alexis like she will never see her again and it scares her. "Alexis is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Paige what you are doing is more than enough."

Alexis got ready to start her day. The first order of business was placing a call to Kate. Walking over to the phones on the table she selects the next burner in the sequence. Dialing her number she waits patiently for Kate to answer.

"Hello."

"Detective Beckett, how are you this morning?"

I'm doing well, how are you?"

"Again Detective you don't need to concern yourself with my well being. But thanks for asking just the same."

Alexis paused for a second and then asked "Kate did you get me the information I asked for?"

"I did, but after I read the files I noticed some discrepancies."

Alexis knew that her curiosity would get the better of her but she was in control here so she needed to set some ground rules.

"Detective while you might be curious about what you have read in those files I am only going to say this once and once only. Any information you acquire for me in the course of my mission, is not for you to read. What you know could get you killed in the process."

"But I..." Alexis cuts her off and tells her that there is no trade-off here. While she wants Kate to be involved she won't see her killed in the process.

"Detective any further requests I ask of you I need to you to know that the information is for my eyes only. Do you understand?"

"I understand, but I may be able to help you"

"Detective while I admire your drive, your job as a cop comes first, there is no need to involve yourself with what I am doing. The least being you could lose your job, the worst you could end up dead!"

"Can you meet me at the Battery Park ferry in an hour? Park your car at the entrance. I will see you then."

Hanging up Alexis is concerned that Kate might have made copies of the files. Hoping that she didn't she replaces the burner back into the charger she returns to her bedroom and gets dressed into her all black outfit. Remembering her balaclava she heads out to the meeting location. Hailing a cab to get her there she asks the cabbie to make a pass around the location to do her recon run. Noticing that it looks pretty normal she asks the cabbie to park about a block away from the ferry meet location. About 10 minutes passes by and she sees Kate's unmarked Charger pull up and park. Looking around the area she cautiously gets out of the cab and walks over to Kate's car. Again she slides up along the right side of the car and opens the rear door. Getting in she notices Kate with her eyes focused on the ferry that is just about to leave.

"Is there something wrong detective?"

Not turning around Kate answers "No a memory just came to mind and I was lost in it."

"Do you have something for me?"

Kate picks up the file and passes it to Alexis. Wondering if she should ask her any questions she thinks to herself _I need to get some answers from whoever this is._

Alexis quickly skims the file and reaches for the door handle to leave. Kate clears her throat and speaks looking forward still. "I need to know who you are. If what your doing is so dangerous that you could get yourself killed then maybe I could stop that from happening to you."

"Detective you are very determined aren't you? Like I told you before, our relationship is still in its beginning stages and as far as I am concerned I am not too sure giving you more to do would be a wise thing to do."

"I'm up for the challenge."

"I know detective but for now lets see how this progresses okay? As for who I am that will be something that I will not reveal to anytime soon. Kate are these the only copies of this file?" Alexis really needed to know for sure.

"Yes, they are" she answers back.

Alexis places her hand on the seat back to push herself out of the car but Kate reaches to hold it, Alexis not resisting lets her touch her hand. What Kate feels by this touch is someone who could be very compassionate and caring. She gets the feeling that she is intense and calculating as well. Alexis pushes off the seat back and leaves the car.

Kate starts her car and pulls away hoping that she can get a glimpse of her mystery visitor. Coasting down the street she can't believe that she has lost her in such a short time. Driving back to her apartment she needs to talk to Kevin and Javi.

While Kate and Alexis were in their meeting little did they know that across the street leaning up against a tree there was a person gathering intel on the both of them. He was associated with the crew that took care of Alvarez interests, but was not actually with the crew. He was just hired to gather information and take pictures of one detective and find out who she was meeting with. With the speedy exit of the detective he ventured out into the street to snap one last picture as she left.

Alexis returned back to the loft and thoroughly went over Alvarez's finances. She spent about 4 hours finding exactly what Kate had uncovered. But she would take it one step further. She has contacts in the Cayman Islands that could tell her if and when Mr. Alvarez or any person had made any large deposits recently. This needed to be done quickly because her window of opportunity was closing fast. Placing a call to her banking contact she told her what she needed, it would be about 4 or 5 hours to get the information she needed.

Considering a strenuous workout she pulled her auburn hair into a tight pony tail. She changed into her sports bra and spandex shorts and proceeded to beat up the speed bag and then take her frustration out on the cardio strike bag. After an hour of abusing the workout gear she called it a day. Heading back to the loft from the gym she needed a shower desperately.

She was seriously thinking about what Kate offered when they had their meeting, and while it was tempting she could not put her in a situation that would in anyway cause her any harm. She lost her dad to violence but would not loose the only connection she had to him to the same.

Alexis had decided to gather intel on the crew that was protecting Alvarez. It would turn out to be a long and tedious night. Leaving the loft she set out to do just that.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Alexis was having a terrible night. She started out to gather intel on her targets. Theses men were very elusive. She was staking out the address that she obtained from her street contact. She was adjacent to the address in the building across the street. She had a bird's eye view of the coming and goings of Alvarez's team.

There was actually nothing to gather. They were very careful about keeping low and out of sight. Patience and they seemed to have a lot of it.

They were well equipped. She noticed they among other things they could be mobile in an instant. There was a military hum-vee parked outside of the location. She could only guess that it was armed with additional weapons. So she decided to play her trump card. Removing her burner phone she dialed Alvarez's number. The phone connects...

"Mr. Alvarez" Alexis stated.

"Yes…Who is this? This is a private number!" He asks visibly agitated.

"Mr. Alvarez, please it's not that private if I can contact you on it." Alexis states.

"What do you want?" He asks visibly annoyed.

"I am going to give you the chance to come clean on your own accord." Alexis intones.

"What are you talking about? I am the Manhattan Borough President and I am a reputable one at that." He says reiterating the lie he tells to himself every day.

"Save it for the little people, Alvarez. I know that you're on the take." Alexis says.

"Are you so sure about that?" he asks trying to throw her off.

"Come on Mr. Alvarez, I know you are and I have the proof." Alexis says.

"I will crush you. You can not touch me." He arrogantly says incriminating himself.

"So Arrogant Mr. Alvarez…What happens when I release all your dirty dealings to the press? Oh, you think those attack dogs you have will save you then well you better think again. Oh Yes, I know about them too." Alexis baits.

Alvarez is a little numb about the information that this caller might have on him. But he thinks that this is a big bluff. Whoever this is on the phone is just yanking his chain. So he gets bolder.

"Well if you think you have the balls go ahead and try to leak what ever it is you have and we will see who believes who." He says.

The line goes dead. Alexis stares at her phone and can't believe he could be that brainless. Picking up her binoculars she focuses in on the entry door at the location across the street. She can see activity there just as she had hoped. Four men exit the location and make their way across the street to where she is.

She thinks to herself

" _This is not good. How did they find out that I am here so fast?"_

Of course Alexis has a back-up plan with a back-up plan for her back-up plan just in case. She grabs her phone and binoculars and makes a quick exit to the rear of the apartment. Opening the window that faces an alley and a lower building to her right she throws out the fire ladder and climbs down to the last rung of the ladder, the drop to the other rooftop is about 5 feet. She only needs to swing a little bit to the right to be able to make the jump the other rooftop. Using momentum she swings effortlessly. Finding the right time she releases from the ladder then lands with a thud on the roof top below her. Tumbling to a crouching position she hides behind an A/C chiller unit. Waiting she keeps an eye on the window she just left.

It takes a while but before long the team that she observed on the street is now where she was. She looks at her stop watch and hits stop on the timer. 49 seconds. She knows now that this team might be more than she had anticipated. Waiting for them to finish she is patient. They clear the room finding no trace of her. She gives them a little more time before she leaves her cover.

/

Using the response time it took for Alvarez's team to get to where she was, she now has a plan to deal with them. Now she needs to follow up with the ultimatum she gave Alvarez yesterday. She has a contact in city hall and calls her to see if he did actually admit to taking the bribes. Listening to the voice on the other end what she thought was now confirmed. He never did anything. So now the ball was in her court.

Little did Alexis know she might have inadvertently given up her secret? While she was observing the crew that was after her, the same photographer was observing her hiding behind the A/C chiller unit. When she left so did he. He followed her to Broom Street but lost her in the middle of the block. Returning to report his findings to the team they had quickly posted a surveillance team on Broom Street.

/

Kate was hitting dead end after dead end. She knew that she recognized a person that was a dead on likeness for Alexis that day crossing the street but after searching almost every possible database there was only the fact that she had flew to Japan 5 years ago. There were no credit or debit card purchases, no cell phone foot print. There was no record of her returning back to the U.S.

She was frustrated. She was missing something. She needed to know what it was. Deciding to place a couple of calls overseas she had finally found a time line that made sense. She tracked Alexis to a martial arts school but she had changed her last name to Rodgers. That's why she kept coming up empty. Armed with her new alias she dug deeper and found that Alexis had been in two places during her time in Japan. She had taken advanced combat training at a retired Japanese soldier's compound for the last two years she was there. She found out that this was the last location she was. There was no trail afterward. Nor could she find out when she had returned to the U.S.

Since she had her real name she decided to run financials on her. What she found out was mind blowing. Alexis was wealthy beyond any and all means. Apparently when Rick and Martha had died she inherited his fortune from his portfolio. He had amassed quite the portfolio. With what Martha had in her savings Alexis had come close to receiving just below 650 million dollars. This was just the liquid assets. She had millions in real estate too. The Hamptons summer house, the loft and then she noticed 2 properties that were unfamiliar to her. And since she was the sole heir to his fortune she had been receiving quarterly payments from all of Rick's books. Not to mention the biography that Black Pawn had cashed in on after his passing.

When she opened the account that had been receiving the quarterly payments she almost fell off the chair. The total of deposits from the last check was a little shy of $365,000.00. All she could think was wow. Coming back to the 2 addresses that she found she decided to run them. The first was a store front in Brooklyn. The next was a hole in the wall apartment complex in the Bronx. Deciding that she might find some answers she writes both addresses down and heads to Brooklyn.

/

Pulling up to the first address she cautiously gets out of her unit. Not too sure if she is at the right address she checks it again and it's the right place. This place is not what she had imagined. Checking it out shows it has been unoccupied for years. Moving rather quickly back to her car she can't see why Alexis would have property here. This is probably one of the most undesirable neighborhoods she has ever been in.

/

Heading over to the Bronx she arrives at the second address. This address is a little better, but not by much. Since Alexis owns the whole building she needs to knock on a couple of doors to get some information. Arriving at the first apartment number 2 she knocks lightly on the door. Hearing footsteps she backs up a step and places her right hand on the butt of her gun. The door creaks open slowly and an older woman pokes her head out.

"Yes can I help you" the elderly woman asks.

"Hello ma'am, I am Detective Beckett. I am wondering have you seen this woman around here recently?" Kate asks then shows the photo of Alexis.

The woman studies the picture.

"She could be a little older now..." Kate states.

"How much older?" the old woman asks

"She would be about 5 years older." Kate states as she is hopeful.

What the woman says next was far beyond her expectations.

"Come to think of it I have seen this girl. She has only been here a couple of times. I remember because the day we met it was raining out. I had just returned from the market. I was having trouble getting all my bags into my apartment. She was so nice. She helped my get everything in my apartment. Then she stayed to help me put everything away." She recalls.

Kate had tears in her eyes. This was just like Alexis never turn anyone away in need.

"Would you tell me what apartment she is?" Kate asks hoping for a good result.

"Why yes, she was in apartment # 12 on the top floor." The old woman stated firmly.

"Thank you so much, Ma'am, for your cooperation." Kate says leaving to head upstairs.

"It was my pleasure, my dear." She says as she shuts the door.

Kate climbs to the fifth floor. Walking over to the door she picks the lock.

Alexis looked at her phone and sees the alert. She could press the button then allow the charges to destroy everything and everyone in the apartment. Her finger hovered over the button then she decided to see who it was that breached her door.

Kate enters and she sees what shouldn't be here. It's a base of operations for someone. There are at least 4 laptops, recording and surveillance equipment. Walking over to the closet in the main room she opens the door and there right in front of her is a floor to ceiling safe. It has a digital combination pad and she has a thought.

Placing her finger on the combo pad she enters 4-1-3-1-9. The safe unlocks and Kate is now horrified. She has found out that Alexis has been her unknown visitor. No one else would use her shield number as a combination for a safe. Opening the safe is what really she scares her. Alexis is armed to the hilt with every type of weapon she could possibly get her hands on. This includes Sniper rifles, hand guns and even a crossbow.

/

Securing everything back exactly the way she had found it Kate backs slowly out of the room. Getting back into her car, her cell phone scares the crap out of her when it rings.

"Beckett" she says.

"Detective we need to meet again." The electronic voice says.

Kate now knows the truth about the voice and her identity.

"Okay, where and when can we meet?" Kate answers.

"Detective, there is a small office building in mid-town. Can you be there in 1 hour?" The voice asks.

"Yes, I will be there." Kate said.

"Good, I will text you the address." The voice says then hangs up.

Alexis forwards the address to Kate's cell. Alexis gets ready to leave and makes sure that the alarm is reset at the property in the Bronx. She knew Kate had found it since she was alerted and watched on video what Kate did and then recorded that too. Setting the alarm for the loft on the keypad she enters Kate's badge number then leaves.

Walking to the elevator she thinks she sees something out of the corner of her eye. Turning quickly she sees nothing but remains on alert just in case. The door slides open and she steps in.

Reaching over to press the ground floor button Alexis spies two men from Alvarez's team rush the elevator. Alexis suspecting an attack was in a defensive stance. The doors close and that's when all hell breaks loose inside the car...


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Since Alexis had anticipated an attack, she was ready for what ever they threw at her. The elevator was not the best place to have a fight like this but she would deal with it. The assassin to her right tried to throw a round house punch at her, while the other one tried to kick her legs out from under her. Alexis ducked and his fist hit the back of the elevator wall. Screaming in pain while he holds his broken hand Alexis is now on her back from the leg swept kick the second assassin had given her. Thrusting to an upward position she takes a combative stance. Waiting for the second assassin to make a move she waits. He realizes that she has tactical training and thinks about his next move.

In a split second...He rotates his body to try and come up behind her. She the throws a solid palm punch to his face sending his nasal bone directly into his brain and he drops instantly. Considering what she has just done she forgets about the attacker with the broken hand that is until she feels a sharp pain in her side. Raising her elbow she slams hard into his shoulder. When he starts to fall she brings up her right knee to his head and it throws him back into the wall of the elevator rendering him defenseless. For good measure she drop kicks the both of them. The whole battle only took a few seconds.

By the time the elevator doors open the fight is over. Walking out of the elevator the concierge looks at her oddly and she tells him that she was attacked in the elevator car., and he needs to call the police. He moves to the desk and does just that. As a parting glance back to him as she reaches the entry doors he is still eying her with concern. It isn't until she goes to push the glass door open when she sees the reflection of herself in the glass door. Reaching for her side the assassin with the broken hand was able to stick her with a 4 inch Buck hooked knife. Trying to remove it turned out to be more painful then she thought.

She made her way out of the lobby and had to get to Kate. She would be the only one to possibly get her the help that she needed to survive this wound. Striking down the thought to hail a cab with a knife in her side she opted to walk the 10 or so blocks to the meet location, she just hoped that her adrenalin would not wear off too soon.

Since it was late at night there was not too much pedestrian traffic. This was good. She hoped that she could hide the fact that there was a knife protruding from the right side of her body.

She had only 2 blocks to go. There would be no recon this time around. She hopes that Alvarez thought that his team finished her off. She would still be cautious about her surroundings if not for her safety but for Kate's too. She was mid-block when she noticed Kate's unmarked gray Charger. She moved over to the street side of the sidewalk and almost falling onto the car she reached for the door handle. Her hand slipped off the handle from the blood on her hand but she steadied herself and tried again.

Kate felt the thump on the side of the car. Knowing it was her "unknown visitor" she sits looking forward ready to confront her with her identity. Alexis falls into the rear seat and is holding her side. She barely made it into Kate's car. Now the pain was excruciating. Kate still does not turn around but offers up the following statement...

"So Alexis, how does it feel to be back in New York?" She asks.

Getting no reply she looks into the rear view mirror and sees nothing. Turning to look back Kate is horrified at what she sees.

"Oh shit! Alexis what happened? Oh, come on baby say something! Talk to me" Kate exclaims.

All Alexis can do is mumble something about the attack in the elevator. Kate hears nothing but a whisper from the front seat. She is losing consciousness by the second. Kate jumps from the driver's seat and races to the rear door. Opening it she instinctively goes to remove the knife. As soon as she grabs the knife's handle Alexis screams in pain. All she has is enough strength to tell her that it is a hook knife. It's most likely has her internal organs, muscles or tendons wrapped around the end of the hook. Pulling it out would mean certain death.

Kate is overwhelmed by what is happening and is losing control of the situation. Kate knows that if she does not get her to the hospital soon, she will most likely die right here in the back seat. Slamming the car door she jumps back into the driver's seat. She turns the key and the police interceptor's Hemi engine roars to life. Since she is in a cop car she uses all it's devices to maneuver through the traffic on the city streets. Lights and sirens move the traffic with ease and the hospital is only 15 blocks away.

Kate can't lose her too. She already lost Rick on her watch. She swears it won't happen again. Looking back to the rear seat she sees Alexis's hand resting on the seat back. Then she sees the cell phone in her hand with a number already pulled up on the contact list. Taking the phone from her she asks

"Do you want me to call this number Alexis?" Kate asks.

Kate looks to see her shaking her head yes.

"Who am I calling?" Kate asks.

All Alexis can say is "Safe house."

Kate hits send on the phone and before the phone actually rings a voice answers

"Current situation please." The voice says.

"I have Alexis Castle and she has been stabbed with a hook knife." Kate says.

"What is her current condition?" The voice responds.

"She has lost a lot of blood and right now is unconscious in the back of my car." Kate replies.

"Get her over to East 11th street mid-block between 3rd and 4th avenues. We will have a team waiting for you. I don't need to stress the importance of time do I?" the voice replies.

"No, you don't. We will be there in less than 5 minutes."

Kate floors the gas pedal and the Supercharged Charger instantly responds. They actually made it there in just under 3 minutes. As she pulls up to the address there is a medical team waiting there for them. The team swings into action and had the back door open almost before Kate came to a complete stop. Removing Alexis from the back of the car they place her on a gurney. They rush her through the doorway being held open by a nurse. The medical team and Alexis disappears through the doorway. Kate is following close behind her until another set of men armed with silenced AR-15's block her way.

"Your job is done, Detective. There is no need for you to enter into this safe house." The guard informs.

Kate is totally angry and lets that fact be known.

"I am a god dammed New York City police detective! You will let me have access to this building!" Kate exclaims.

"Detective, do you think we do not know exactly who you are? I have my orders and they are clear, you will not enter." The guard solemnly says.

Kate ignores the warnings then moves to enter the building. They just close ranks on her. Kate's attempts of rushing them were easily anticipated. They move and before she can react she has her right arm twisted behind her back. Almost falling due to the pain of her arm almost coming out of its socket, she relents just a little. When they see that she is relaxing, her arm is slowly lowered to her side.

"Are we going to have any more problems, Detective?" The lead guard asks.

Kate lowers her head knowing that it was going to be impossible to get inside.

"No, I'll leave quietly. I hope you know you have my partner's daughter in there. I'm very protective of her. You better treat her right." Kate informs as she walks away holding her arm.

She walks over to the side of her car. The rear door is still opened and she slams it shut way too hard. Circling the car she opens the front door and is just about to get in when she hears...

"Wait Detective…" The lead guard shouts out.

One of the guards is talking into his headset and all she hears is.

"Rodger that." He says.

The guard walks over to her apprehensively.

"You have been given clearance to enter. You must have friends high up on the food chain." He says escorting her away from her car.

"You've have no idea." Kate responds.

Inside the building, they frisk her and take her service weapon. At first, Kate wants to protest but decides against it. At least she is in the building. Inside there is an inner door. The lone guard moves to one side and allows them to enter this doorway.

"Stay close to me." The lead guard says.

The space she enters is barren with no desks. There is no sign of any type of life. The windows are blacked out as to not let anybody see in. They walk about 25 feet into a second room and then down a hallway to a small operating theater on the left. The guard stops.

"You need to wait here." He says as he returns the way they came then disappears through the only doors visible.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Within thirty minutes the guard returns with a padded folding chair. As he unfolds it Kate looks at him. He motions for her to sit. She does so but she still has her reservations.

"You will be here for a while so think about getting comfortable." He says eying her still not totally convinced she should be here.

"How long do you estimate my wait will be?" Kate asks.

"That depends on two things. First how quickly the doctors can complete the surgery. Second is the physical strength of Ms. Castle." He replies.

"Is there a possibility of having something to eat while I wait?" Kate hopefully asks as her stomach rumbles its displeasure of not being fed recently.

The guard hears the sounds and takes pity on the detective.

"I'll see what I can do but I can't promise you much." He says exiting the room.

As the guard turns to leave Kate mentions one last thing.

"Something to drink would be nice too." Kate requests as he walks away.

The guard mumbles something unrecognizable under his breath and keeps walking.

"Detective Beckett I presume?" A man's voice says disturbing her thoughts.

"Yes I am her." Kate says as she turns toward the voice.

"I'm Dr. Gordon. I am here to give you an update on Ms. Castle." He says now in her line of sight.

"Okay Dr…How is she doing?" Kate asks looking at the Doctor for the first time

He looks to her weary with a bit of pride too.

"Well it was a bit touch and go there for most of the surgery. We were able to remove the hook knife without any major damage to her vital organs. She did however lose much blood due to the type of wound she received. She is awake and aware of her surroundings." He states.

"When will I be able to see her?" Kate asks hoping it would be soon.

"I am not too sure that this is a good idea. Everyone here at this safehouse is a part of a unit that protects her. She gave us explicit instructions not to include outsiders." The doctor replies.

"I am not an outsider. I was her father's partner. We know each other through him." Kate protests.

For a second he considers her request.

"Kate, may I call you that?" He asks.

"Sure." She replies.

"Listen Kate I will make every effort to let you see her. The final decision will be her choosing. Will that work for you?" He asks sympathetic to the officer's request.

"Well I guess so I have no other choice now do I?" Kate says sounding a little upset.

"Actually you don't. Would you give me about 15 minutes to check on her one last time then ask her if it's okay to let you see her?" He asks showing he is sympathetic to her request.

"I'll be sitting right here." Kate says with determination.

Dr. Gordon leaves the hallway and enters Alexis' room. She hears what seems to be quiet whispering inside the room. She couldn't actually make out what is being said. So she rests her elbows on her knees then drops her head into her open hands. She hears footsteps coming towards her, She raises her head up to see the guard walking towards her. He has a sandwich and a can of Pepsi in his hands.

"This is the best I could get. We are not really prepared for food at this safe house. This place is more of a weigh station of sorts. Just a waiting area for gathering intel and acting on it. Sorry." He commiserates.

"I appreciate this thank-you so very much." Kate says grateful to have any food.

"Your welcome, I wish it could have been more." The guard says.

Kate looks down at the sandwich in front of her. While she is grateful for it, it is just a basic ham and cheese. She devours the sandwich quickly because she can't remember when the last time she had anything to eat. She is washing it down with the Pepsi when Dr. Gordon reappears next to her once more.

"Kate, I had a talk with Alexis and she told me that it's okay if you see her this time." He says.

Kate looks wounded then asks him "This time?"

"Yes this time. You will need to speak with her for further involvement in her life. Be warned this will not be an easy task. She still blames you for her father's death." He states.

"I see." Kate responds.

"So for now just take it easy on her and be mindful to her feelings. That's all I ask of you." He instructs.

"I will Dr. Gordon." Kate promises.

The doctor leaves her to her thoughts. Kate takes inventory of her current emotional state. Then she readies herself for whatever is on the other side of the door. As she walks in she first notices Alexis' appearance. She has a blanket covering her up to her waist. Her mid-section is bare and she has a sports bra covering her chest. As she walks closer she hears Alexis clear her throat. Her eyes focus on the very large bandage covering her side.

"Kate, it's okay. It looks worse than it actually is. There is just a little pain and all I really just feel a twinge because of the meds I am taking." Alexis says trying to minimize as usual.

"That's a great sign. Alexis I thought that I had lost you in the back of my car. I could not go through losing you like I lost your dad." Kate replies showing the young woman her obvious relief.

"Kate, while I know that you blame yourself for what happened to Dad and Grams. I don't hold you responsible. I do however still remember the promise that you made to me. The one where you told me that you would keep him safe. So while I know what happened was beyond your control, you made a promise that you did not keep. Please stop beating up yourself over this. It happened a long time ago and what's done is done. Now it's time to move forward and be done with it." Alexis requests.

"Alexis when you were in the back of the car dying. I went back to that day so long ago. I needed to do everything in my power to keep you here with me. Now there is one problem."

"What would that be Kate?" Alexis asks concerned.

"Dr. Gordon told me that this would be a one time visit. He also said that you are going to be making a decision to let me see you again." Kate states showing much disappointment.

"Kate that's right. My work here is very important to me. I can't go around exposing the people I love to the hazards of what I do. Do you understand what I am saying?" Alexis asks the older woman.

"I do Alexis. I would help you find the resolve that you seek for your mission. I do believe that you are trying to avenge your dad's death in a way that will most certainly get you killed in the process." Kate replies showing a bit disapproval in her voice.

"Kate, this would be a small price to pay. After he died I promised myself that I would expose the widespread greed, back deals, and corruption within this city. So to me it's a way to honor him in a way that he had committed to while he was working with you." Alexis explains.

Kate thinks this through for a while almost to the point that Alexis thinks that she has quietly fallen asleep.

"Kate." Alexis whispers.

Kate's head rises and she has questions for her.

"Alexis, may I ask where you were for the last 4 years?" Kate asks curious if what she have learned was true.

"Kate to start with I needed to clear my head. I also needed to get myself ready for the next step in my life. So I went to Japan and trained with the best teachers to get me physically and mentally ready for the next step in my rebirth." Alexis says.

"Oh that explains a lot." Kate says satisfied that her research was not too far off.

"I needed solitude. I could not contact anyone from my past. Kate, you, Lanie and the boys never left my thoughts." Alexis whispers as she was getting sleepy.

"Alexis I want to help. I know there is something that I can do other than running background searches on Alvarez and his bad guys." Kate says.

Alexis knew that it might come to this point. She really couldn't include Kate in what she is doing for two reasons. First it might get her killed. Second if she was ever to be caught red handed it would end her career with the NYPD. She could not live with the fact that she alone could cost Kate her job.

Kate kept her eyes on Alexis. She was deep in thought and whatever she was thinking about, it weighs heavy on her. Kate thought of what she must be going through in her mind. Would she her want to be a part of her team or would she just kick her to the curb and never want to see her again.

"Kate I need more time to be able to think this through. I have not made a decision just yet. Would you return later tomorrow?" she asks in barely a whisper.

She was fighting a losing battle against the drugs.

"Alexis, I think that would be fine. I also know that this is a big decision. I want to tell you that I will abide with any decision you achieve." Kate says getting up from the chair.

She really wanted to hug the young woman now.

"Thanks Kate. The armed guard outside in the hall will see that you get home safely." Alexis says in a sound barely above a whisper then she fell asleep.

Kate grasps her hand to give it a squeeze which awoke her briefly. Kate turns and leaves her. Before she exits she hears

"Kate, I just wanted you to know. I missed you the entire time I was away." She says as she again loses the battle to stay awake.

Kate pauses for a second then continues. Following the guard back through the empty office he makes sure she gets to her Charger safely. Once inside Kate grabs the steering wheel and starts crying uncontrollably.

Through her sobs she lets out a small whisper "I missed you too, Alexis."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kate pulls up to her apartment. Her conversations between Alexis and herself have given her the promise that she would possibly become a part of her life once again. Securing her car she enters the lobby of her building. It is late and Kate is exhausted by everything that happened with Alexis. She is so exhausted that she misses the figure observing her from a distance. He is here to gather intel on her routine. He has been just assigned to this mark. All he has is her address. He has been there for about 4 hours. He is just about to give up when she pulls up. He figures that she is coming from work being that is was after 10pm.

Noticing the lights come on in her apartment he now knows which unit is hers. She has walked over to the window to close the blinds. This allows him to make a positive ID. He stays there until the apartment has darkened once again. Coffee is in order. He would get a cup then return it will be a long and tiring night.

Kate lies in bed with her mind racing. She hopes that Alexis would seriously consider having her on her team. After thinking much on this topic, Kate has a thought that would prove to Alexis that she is committed to becoming a part of her team. She thinks long enough for the decision to be the right one. She would resign her position as a detective with the NYPD. Then commit to being a part of her team. The only problem would be convincing Alexis that this is the right choice. Other than the boys there is nothing really keeping her there anymore.

Drifting off into a light sleep she quickly falls into the dream that is always a nightmare for her. It always ends the same. She just could not get to him in time. It is a while before she has finally fallen into a heavy sleep. Not that it matters, though. Her phone started ringing and it drew her from her current nightmare.

"Beckett" she answers.

"Yo boss we have a body." Espo says.

"Alright Espo give me 15 and I'll meet you there, just text me the address." Kate says sighing.

"Done" He replies.

At first, she thinks it is Alexis calling her. It would be about her decision to let her see her again. She could only hope. Looking at the readout on her phone she sighed 3:48am. No wonder she feels so tired. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweater she makes her way down to her car. Her tail notices there is some movement happening when he sees the light in her apartment appear. He sits 4 cars behind her then watches as she climbed into her cruiser. He waits about 10 seconds before pulling into traffic behind her car. He stays a safe distance behind then he parks on the opposite side of the street when she stops at the crime scene. He notes in his log that she is at a crime scene.

" _Alvarez will love this."_ He thinks.

This murder is basically an open shut case. They just need to gather all the evidence then move fast to find the suspect. All three detectives are talking just outside the crime scene tape. After about 15 minutes or so they break up and head in different directions. Alvarez's tail decides to hang back to wait until she leaves. He would then report to Alvarez. His boss would want to know what he has discovered so far.

Kate returns back to the 12th then starts to outline the murder board. The Captain watches her with interest.

"So Detective any leads?" The Captain asks.

"Well, Sir this looks like an open and shut case." Kate replies.

"Okay, but keep me in the loop." The Captain adds.

Kate goes back to the board and adds specifics to the timeline. It is a little light but that would soon change. It is nearing 7:30 and her stomach needs food. Walking back to her desk she takes out one of many the take out menus. Picking up the phone she orders breakfast for herself and the boys. She calls Ryan and asked him to make the pick up. He arrives about 20 minutes later and they all go to the break room to eat

"So Boss open and shut?" Espo queried.

"It looks that way." Kate said.

"Let's hope that's the case here. You know how these things can go sideways." Ryan added.

They all look at each other hoping that is not the case here. With breakfast complete Espo goes to pick up their prime suspect. By noon time and leaving the suspect sweat for about 2 hours they have a confession. The paperwork is filed. They decide to catch up on paperwork from two other cases. The Captain walks out of her office then watches the team tackle the older paperwork.

"Beckett you and your team have the rest of the day off. Be here in the morning at the regular time." The Captain says while standing behind her.

In unison, they all thanked the Captain and without being told twice they all exit. Just as she is heading over to the elevator her cell phone chirps revealing an incoming call. Looking at the face the number is blocked. She knows who is calling.

"Beckett" she answered softly.

"So Kate open and shut? Alexis asked.

"Wait, what...how did you know that?

"Kate come on. You have to know by now that I have eyes and ears everywhere, nothing gets by me.

"Kate, please meet me at 315 East 57th Street. Can you make it within the hour?" Alexis requests.

"Yes, Alexis I will be there." Kate says brightly as her exhaustion fades.

"Okay, I'll see you then, Bye." Alexis replies.

"Bye," Kate says hanging up.

Kate wonders what Alexis' decision would be. Hopefully, she will see that she could be an asset for more than gathering up reports on the scum of the city. Looking at her watch she has time to head to her apartment to change. Until she looked up to Javi and Kevin.

"Another case?" Ryan asked.

"Nope, just a friend." Kate tried to be nonchalant about the call.

\\\\\\\\\

Alvarez listens to the man tailing the detective. So far it is just routine. He can't believe that this professional has come to him to report a whole bunch of nothing. He was pissed.

"So who's on her right now?" Alvarez asks with a red face?

"Well, no one. You wanted me to report to you after 24 hours, so here I am." The man says.

Alvarez is still pissed. It is his screw up that he tells him to report to him after the first 24 hour period. He could not fault the guy for following his orders. He should have done it by phone instead of breaking off his target.

"Get back on her right now. I need to find the person who is responsible for possibly leaking this information. This detective is our best and only hope." He orders.

"Okay, Alvarez but it's going to cost you." The man says.

"If you're worried about cash there's no need to get your panties in a bunch. There is plenty to go around." The Boss adds.

\\\\\\\\\

Kate pulls up to the address Alexis had given her. The place is a type of 10 story office building. Walking to the front door she is met by yet again another armed guard standing in the lobby.

"Detective Beckett…?" he asks.

"Yes" She replies

He transmits her arrival into his 2-way radio and waits for further instruction.

"Please follow me, detective." He says as they reach the elevator banks then he inserts a magnetic key card.

The elevator doors open instantly. They enter and he pushes B-18. The elevator doors close. Kate feels the elevator quickly gaining speed downward. The ride was quick, only 5 seconds in duration. The doors open again and they step off.

"Follow me." The guard says.

They walk down a long hallway. After a couple of left and right turns, they arrive at a glass wall with a sliding door. The guard again inserts a key card and the door slides open. What she sees in front of her amazes her. There are about 15 people assigned to various tasks all on laptop computers within the front room. Following the guard, he leads them to a smaller room with an additional 6 people looking over some type of blueprints and other unrecognizable paperwork. They move yet to another room and this seems to be where Alexis lives. It is furnished the way she remembers the loft was so long ago. Even though she has only been there a couple of times. However, that layout is etched in her mind.

"Does this look familiar, Kate?" Alexis asks.

Kate is startled back from her daydream. Alexis walks up from behind her and puts her hand on her shoulder.

"After I left I could not part with the loft. So now this is where I live and since I missed it so much, I designed this place to look exactly like it. This is what grounds me. It makes me remember why I do this." Alexis says wistfully.

Kate nods quietly.

"Kate I need you to take a seat, we have a lot to discuss," She says...


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kate moves to sit right in front of Alexis' desk. Alexis invites her to sit down. She really wants Kate to be a part of her team. She thinks that with all she has been through Kate would view her decision to be one that she thinks she will still blame her for her Dad and Grams death. Unless Kate can provide a damn good reason that she can change her mind. Alexis takes a seat at her desk. Her desk phone buzzes. She picks up the headset. She holds up her index finger towards Kate motioning her to wait for just one minute. Kate nods back in agreement. Alexis quickly wraps up the call. As she turns towards Kate again she thinks to herself

 _ _"Well here goes nothing."__

"Kate while there is a place for you on this team I'm afraid that I can't have you working here with what we do. I know that your skills have proved themselves many times over and over. The facts are that what we do here is to get justice for the people who can't get it for themselves. What I'm trying to say is that we get justice. The law is not concerned with justice. We are here for our clients. We do it legally most of the time." Alexis says with conviction.

Kate takes in what she has just said. She is about to make a suggestion. Alexis raised her hand cutting her off.

"Kate, I don't hold anything against you from past events. I have moved past what happened. I don't want you to think that my decision has anything to do with what happened to Dad and Grams. Furthermore, I really don't want to see you jeopardize your career with the NYPD." Alexis states.

Kate's head falls slightly and her shoulders drop trying to formulate a response to Alexis' last statement. She rethinks her position with the NYPD. It has been awhile since she thought of anything toward her career. She almost has the time to actually retire. She thinks about the problems that would arise if she was even caught "moonlighting" for Alexis while she is still active on the force. Kate raises her head to look Alexis right in the eye.

"Alexis, I will do anything to be a member with you in your organization. I have been giving it much thought since last night. There is actually nothing holding me to the NYPD or the twelfth anymore for that matter. Sure there are the boys but I can and will always be able to see them. I am close to retiring from the NYPD and if I play my cards right I might be able to retire a little earlier because I have so much time saved up from unused vacation and sick time during the last 18 years." Kate responds.

"Kate, I would not ask you to do this. You really need to think about the bigger picture here." Alexis warns.

Kate is starting to lose her temper. She certainly wants to let it loose on Alexis now. So she thinks of another way to convince her.

"Alexis while I know that you don't let things in the past affect your decision. I think that in a little part of your mind they still do. I can see it in your face every time you mention your Dad and Grams. That's okay, I had let you down on that day. I promised something that I could not deliver. Their deaths are on my hands." Kate admits as she looks down at her hands.

Alexis leans a bit forward. She has not heard exactly what happened that fateful day.

"I shouldn't be telling you this but the bank robbers had made their escape before the C-4 was detonated. Only 2 of the 5 had perished when it blew. The 3 that survived went so deep underground. It was almost impossible to track them. I was relentless to find any clue as to where they were. After 2 years, I had a lead on the leader "Trapper John." He was the one I wanted the most because I had made him a promise that if he had ever harmed anyone I cared about in that bank he would deal with me." Kate says with fury in her eyes.

Alexis is spellbound. She knew nothing of Kate's promise. Kate continues again looking downward.

"I kept that promise. I found him in a non-extradition country. I made it my life goal to learn all about his routine. I knew his moves before he did. When it was time to make my move, I caught him in a gambling parlor. I waited for him to leave. I snared him inside the kitchen which had a back door leading out of the place. He was trying to be unseen. I drew my gun then forced him into a storage room off the kitchen. I was wearing a hoodie. When I removed the hood he looked at me in total shock. He knew why I was there standing in front of him. He looked very scared." Kate says.

"So what did you do?" Alexis asks in a small voice.

"Well Alexis, he tried to plead for his life. I would only see your dead father and grandmother swimming before my eyes. I needed to set out what I promised him 2 years ago. So I raised my silenced 9mm then placed it right between his eyes and pulled the trigger. If you doubt what I'm telling you I know that you have the resources to verify it. There are recorded phone calls between myself and him. And there is another little bit of information. If you research the death of a certain mercenary with dual citizenship from Brazil who died in the storage room of a greasy cafe I'm sure that you will find that to this day that his case is still unsolved." Kate says grimly.

As Kate had told her tale of redemption she only looked up once at Alexis. It was only now that she really looked at her to gauge her reaction. She is surprised to see had streaks of fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. Alexis gets up from her desk then turns to walk away.

"Wait Alexis please don't leave!" Kate yells.

When Alexis turns towards her from the long desk Kate realizes that she is not leaving. She walks right up to her then embraces Kate in her arms.

"Kate, do you remember when I told you at the bank that Dad was working up the courage to tell you that he loved you?" Alexis whispers.

"Wait Alexis before you say what you'll say. You need to know something as well. Your Dad and I were in the same boat. I was hopelessly in love with him. I just wish I could have told him that day. Now, looking back, I believed that I had all the time in the world. It just did not turn out that way." Kate confides.

"Kate there is something you need to know... Dad was in love with you. I think he never doubted where he was going to go with you. The day I had left for Japan I emptied out the contents of his personal safe." Alexis says.

Kate did not like where this is headed. She really needs Alexis to stop. However, there is a part that wanted her to finish.

"In his safe there was his will if it even needed to be presented to his attorney. The safe held all of his holdings, bearer bonds and a small black velvet box. In it is a 3 carat diamond ring and a note that reads.

 _ _If I am incapacitated in any way shape or form this must be delivered to Detective Kate Beckett.__

 _"It is in Dad's own handwriting so no one could dispute his wishes." Alexis says as she_ walks over to her own personal safe.

She enters the combination then retrieves that same black box along with the envelope. Walking back to Kate she holds out the box in her palm. Kate takes the box with trembling hands. She opened it with her tears flowed freely. She is speechless. She looks toward Alexis about to speak when Alexis again raises her hand then places it gently on Kate's shoulder.

"Kate before you speak…there's more..." Alexis says.

Kate looks at her with a questioning look.

 _"_ _ _What else could there be?"__ She thinks.

"Remember Kate, Dad was in love with you. I have had to live with his decision for the last 5 years. I think that's it's a way to show you that he lives on after he's gone." Alexis says.

Alexis hands the envelope to Kate.

"Kate, I think you should sit down." Alexis says as she guides the older women to the chair.

Kate looks up at Alexis. She motions her to read what is inside the envelope.

Kate complies and starts to read. She starts with the top of the legal document.

 _ **"**_ ** _ _ **Last Will and Testament of Richard Alexander Rodgers"**__**

 ** _ _I, Richard Alexander Rodgers residing in the State of New York, within New York County declare that this is my last will and testament. Disposition of Estate: To Katherine Houghton Beckett I leave to her a 3 carat Tiffany cut diamond engagement ring. Furthermore she is entitled to 100% of the proceeds from the sales of and including any association regarding any options to make the Nikki Heat series of books into a full length motion picture. In Witness Whereof I have signed my name on this 30__** ** _ _th__** ** _ _day of September, 2011.__**

 _ _Richard Alexander Rodgers.__

The document goes on to list the witness's but it's the date that catches Kate's eye.

"Alexis, have you ever taken the time to read this will?" Kate asks dumbfoundedly.

"So I see that you don't miss a thing. Do you Kate?" Alexis replies.

Alexis returns back to her safe and pulls out yet another smaller envelope. She hands it to her. Kate removes the handwritten letter. From it falls a cashier's check. She kneels down to pick it up not looking at it but rather starts to read the letter.

 _"_ _ _Kate,__

 _ _If your reading this letter then I have finally met my demise. Now, I can honestly tell you that I am totally in love with you. (Go ahead roll those beautiful hazel eyes at me.) I know that you must be a little surprised by this confession. Though, seriously did you think that I wasn't? I may have started off acting like a jackass playboy. Since, working with you for a while I realized that you were someone who if I planned it right I could give my entire heart. And without knowing it I had done just that. I hope you are happy with the gift I left you in my will. You should be comfortable for the rest of your life. Since I am gone Alexis is acting as my executor. She has something for you. Kate as I write this to you please know that you will have my heart...Always."__

 _ _Rick__ _._

Alexis looks at Kate. Her head is hanging low her hair covering most of her facial features. She hears Kate weeping quietly then walks closer to her, pulls her up from the chair and wraps her arms around her then pulls her closer to her. They cry together…mourning what could have been. They stand there for what seems like a lifetime. Sensing Kate has become calmer Alexis is the first to let go.

"Kate, you need to look at the check." Alexis says drying her eyes.

It feels good to have the older woman mourning with her. Now she feels not so alone.

Kate turns over the check as her eyes grow the widest Alexis has ever seen before then.

"Alexis how...? Kate says then stops speechless.

"Kate, you need to understand that after my father has passed Black Pawn needed to send the whole Nikki series back for a 3rd and 4th printing. The check you hold is just from the 3rd and 4th reprints of the first Nikki Heat book "Heat Wave."

Kate eyes the check once more then gazes at Alexis again.

"Alexis, this check is written out for 13.6 million dollars." Kate says exasperatedly.

"Kate…This is for the first books royalties only. Naked Heat, Heat Rises and Frozen Heat have made 3 times as much. Kate, there is a final manuscript unpublished. I kept it until I could get your okay for publishing. It's top copy has your name on it. Since, you have the legal rights to them all it is yours." Alexis says.

"Alexis, I am not sure I deserve this money." Kate says drying her eyes

 _"_ _ _What such a sweet and generous man her partner was."__ She thinks.

"Of course you of all people deserve it, Kate. Who is the inspiration for this series?" Alexis challenges.

"I am." Kate answers shyly.

"So now that you have some spending money. I need to know. You would consider leaving the NYPD?" Alexis asks.

Alexis with all that happened here today my head is reeling. Is there a place we can get something to eat? I haven't had anything since last night." Kate asks.

"Sure Kate just follow me, we can talk a little more afterward." Alexis says embracing the other woman then she leads her out to yet another maze of hallways...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Kate follows Alexis down the hallway. She has a very big decision to make. While she is easily used to the routine of her job at the 12th she knows that change would be a good thing. She just needs to see how close she is to actually retire from the force. She knows that members of the force are allowed to use all the sick and personal time saved to add to her service time. As they round a corner Alexis stops, then turns to her.

"Kate, what are you thinking about?" Alexis asks curiously.

"Alexis, this is a big decision for me. I would need about 24 hours before I can give you a definitive answer. Is that okay with you?" Kate replies.

"Kate, take your time and think this through. Right now we only have one op ongoing." She responds with much compassion.

"Thanks Alexis." Kate says with some relief in her voice.

"So what would you like to eat?" Alexis inquires.

"You know a good meat and potato meal sounds good right about now." Kate says with her anticipating a good size meal.

"So it will be 2 filet mignons with mashed spuds and gravy coming right up, wine too?" Alexis asks being a gracious host.

"Yes, please." Kate responds.

Alexis walks over to the phone, then orders them dinner along with a rich bottle of red wine. Kate walks around to what she believes is Alexis woman cave. There are hints of Rick almost everywhere. Several pictures are of him and Alexis throughout her life. Then she looks on the second shelf. There are just pictures of Rick and Kate. She wonders for a brief second or two where she has gotten those pictures. They are very candid shots of the happy couple.

There is a knock on the door. Before she sees the meal she is enveloped by the wonderful smell that accompanies it. The staffer walks over to the table, then places the dinners on the table. After he leaves, they both take seats next to each other. They begin to eat not really saying anything, just enjoying each others company.

Alexis muses to herself on how far she has grown up since that terrible day. Sure, it has been 6 years, but to her credit, she has become a force to be taken seriously. Even if she takes care of business behind the scenes so to speak.

Kate eyes, Alexis. She could tell that she is thinking about something. She wants to ask her what it is but decided against it. So she thinks about what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Before Rick's death, she has wanted to go as far with her career in the NYPD as she could. But since his death, she could barely find the energy to get her ass out of bed on some mornings.

She has realized that she has accomplished most everything she wanted. She would make the decision to submit her paperwork and officially retire. Sure, she would get some grief from Lanie and the guys, but her mind is made up now. She would get justice for the families who could not get it through the legal channels.

Placing the last bite of mouthwatering steak in her mouth, she glances up to Alexis and notices that she is looking at her understandingly.

"He would have been proud of your decision Kate." Alexis said sadly

Kate says nothing in return. How Alexis knows that she has made up her mind is beyond her. She does know that with the two of them doing this together. The memory of Richard Castle would never fade from their memories...

Xx

Six months have passed since they had shared a meal right after Alexis was stabbed. Kate did exactly what her heart desired. She put in her papers the following day after their dinner. Since then Alvarez has been able to avoid any investigation by any department the city could launch against him. They want him in a jail cell looking out.

"Alexis, are you sure that security at this fundraiser can't detect this listening device?" Kate asked.

"Kate, my equipment is the latest state of the art that's available. Nothing compares to it. I really don't think that they can even come close to detecting it. "Relax Ex-detective." Alexis kids.

"Very funny. Don't sass me baby girl."

Alexis thought that now her life was finally whole again. Kate had taken on a role of parent of sorts. She loved this new dynamic that they had.

"Okay, I'm at the beginning of the receiving line waiting to be patted down. Radio silence until I'm inside the venue."

"Got it Kate."

Kate was posing to be a very, very, wealthy mover and shaker in the city. Their plan was to get Alvarez to commit to pass a law stopping a new high rise that was going to be built soon. Her job was to pay him an obscene amount of money to pass this law. The law he was going to vote on was to stop the smaller firms from bidding on city contracts to build it. This would prevent the little guy from getting a piece of the pie. She then would line his pockets even more money if he let the company she knew come in and be awarded the construction contract.

Alvarez was as arrogant as ever. He stood in the middle of the venue leering at the single women. The man had some balls because not less than a foot away from him was his wife, who was witness to his wandering eyes.

"Alexis, do you copy?"

"5x5 Kate. Are you inside? And is your target there as well?" Alexis want's confirmation.

"Affirmative on both." Kate answers.

"Copy that, go get 'em, Kate."

Kate walks up to Alvarez in a non threatening fashion. He catches her thin form immediately. He is hesitant at first but Kate puts his fears to rest quickly.

"Hello Borough President Alvarez, it's so good to finally meet you."

"And you are? He asks a bit puzzled.

"I'm the person who has the cash to make sure that the bill your going to pass tomorrow stays passed. If you can achieve this we might be able to do more than pass bills and deal with the mundane city red tape." Kate tries to sell her position to him in a hushed tone.

"You do, do you?" Alvarez responds.

"Indeed I do. I think that we could be able to combine our resources to become the driving force in this city." Kate tells him with a wink of her eye.

"Really, so who do I have the pleasure to be speaking with tonight?"

"How inconsiderate of me, my name is Jennifer Lynch. I have been a long time resident of the city and I can't stand when other politicians become righteous and try to the right thing. This city will never survive their kind."

" _Laying it on a bit thick don't you think Kate?" Alexis said into her ear._

"Now you're talking my language. Lets head out to the balcony and talk where it will better suit our needs."

Alvarez offers his arm and Kate accepts with "Lead on."

Once out on the balcony Alexis has a direct line of sight to him to add an additional recording device. Just in case.

"So President Alvarez, I am not the kind of person who sits on my ass and watches the city go by. I get things done with my influence and money. About this vote that you are going to pass tomorrow, I have it on good word that you have a certain company that will be a shoe in for this new building contract."

"Miss Lynch, I actually do. My own company as a matter of fact."

"Very well done sir! But I have a proposition for you. I think that we can come to terms for a company that can be instrumental in starting and finishing this project much more quicker than yours. My proposition is this, I will pay you $500,000.00 to swing your vote tomorrow. When it's passed I will then ask to have my company come in and take charge of this project. If the get the contract you will be paid handsomely." Kate waits for his response.

"How handsomely?" Alvarez inquires.

"If, and that's a big if my company is awarded the contract for this job, I'm in a position to give you five million dollars..."

"Five million? Are you for real? I make more than that on my income properties annually. Stop wasting my time Miss Lynch."

"Mr Alvarez, once again your mouth was engaged before you used your brain. Now if you kindly let me finish my proposal we might be able to get to enjoy some of this party tonight."

" _Easy Kate, don't spook him!"_

"Excuse me my abruptness." He says in the way of an apology.

"As I was saying, 5 million at the start of the project, another 5 million during construction... if you are able to pay off the city inspectors, and then 10 million when it's complete."

"20 mil. Well it's not exactly chump change. Miss Lynch, how much time do I have to think your offer over?"

"You have until tomorrow at noon. I know that the vote is at 1pm. So I will be keeping my ears open to confirm that the vote was passed. Here is my contact number, I'll be waiting for your call." Kate says.

"Fine, until tomorrow Miss Lynch good night."

As Alvarez walks away both Kate and Alexis feel a shock travel throughout their bodies. Kate is still standing there on the balcony in a stupor.

" _Kate are you there?" Alexis asks anxiously._

" _KATE!"_

"Alexis?"

" _Kate, did he just say what I thought he said?"_

"Lex, it could be a coincidence. How deep did you dig into Alvarez?"

" _Just the basics. We know about his offshore accounts and the fact that he's on the take here. But you don't think that he had anything to do with what happened at the bank all those years ago? Do you?"_

"Alexis, I'm not sure what I think. We need to really need to dig into his life, because if there is just the hint that he had anything to do with the robbery in the bank at all, I'm going to end his life with a bullet to the head!"

" _Kate, I can see you. Please come back and we can decide what tactic to use to take him down with."_

Kate slowly walks out of the party and calls the elevator and rides it down to the lobby. All the way down she is on automatic pilot, not really seeing where she is going, even if she could the threat of tears would prevent it...


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Somehow Kate made it back to the location Alexis had rented for the night to carry out the op with Alvarez. She was still in a state of shock as was Alexis. Kate looked to Alexis.

"Lex, don't you think that we need to dig deeper into his background? I'm not faulting what you have found out already, but we missed something, something that could be bigger than his involvement in city government."

"Kate, this is all on me. I'm the one to blame here. I became so wrapped up in exposing him at this level to dig any further. So it's all on me."

Kate gets up from the chair she had been sitting in for the last half hour and quickly walks over to Alexis. She takes her hand and pulls her to a standing position. When she is at eye level she looks into the younger woman and sees the turmoil within her baby blue eyes. Kate wraps her arms around the girls shoulders and pulls her in for a tight hug. Realizing that Kate is there for her, she releases any pent up frustration and reciprocates her affection. After a minute of embracing each other Kate whispers into her ear:

"Baby listen, your dad always said that there is always a story. He always did his best to find out what that was. I will never doubt your dedication to finding out everything on Alvarez or any other mark for that matter," Alexis starts to interrupt but Kate stops her "You are so very good at what you do. All we need to do now is concentrate on Alvarez. So are you ready?"

Not trusting her voice just yet she gives Kate a firm nod of her head. They stay like this for a little while longer and she likes the closeness she has with Kate. She misses her dad, but having Kate here is greatly easing the stress she has pent up within her. Breaking away they once again look into each others eyes reassuring to each other that they will be the ones to bring down yet another corrupt city official. It's past midnight before they go to sleep. They have ironed out a plan for tomorrow that sounds well thought out, but needs a little fine tuning before they put it into action.

Kate falls into a light sleep. Her overly tired mind takes over and she thinks about the many calls she had with Trapper John in the NYPD command van the day she lost Rick. She tries to replay (in her dream) the series of phone calls with him back to see if she missed something. She thinks she remembers Dr. Huxtable referring to an Alvarez. It could be something that she misheard but shes positive that they used his name that day.

She wakes the next morning to find Alexis hard at work pouring over stacks and stacks of information on Alvarez. She just looks at the way she goes about putting the pieces together. She is like her father in that respect, she needs to know the truth. Stepping over to her and placing her hand on her shoulder as not to scare her, she squeezes lightly. Without even looking up to Kate, Alexis has made some forward progress into Alvarez's life and dirty deals.

"Kate, he's involved with the bank job that the mercenaries pulled off seven years ago. We know that Sal Martino aka Ron Brandt funded the mercs. But what I found out is that the contract the government awarded him before he planned this robbery was rescinded because of a weapons deal in Iran that went south. It was the sale of illegal arms and once our government got wind of it they canceled all of his government contracts. He was broke. I think that Alvarez needed something from him and Brandt agreed to let him fund the robbery for whatever he wanted in that vault."

"Alexis, what was he after? And why would it be so convenient for them both to need something at that same bank?"

Alexis finally looks up at Kate and what she sees breaks her heart. Her face has tear trails running down it. Alexis has been quietly crying because of what Alvarez might have done for her to loose her dad. Kate takes her into her arms and she lets her fears go. After a good soul searching cry and talk, they both agree to take a break get out of the command center and live life for a little bit. But Kate asks her for one location to go to before they go out and enjoy the city. They have the car service pick them up and they are off. Kate thinks that Alexis has an idea where they are gong before they get there.

"You know Kate, I have not returned to where they are since I came back from Japan, and even then it was to say a quick hi and bye." Alexis admits shyly.

"Lex, I know. This is how I found you. I had someone watching to see if you would ever come back to New York. I'm sorry."

"Kate, don't be! I'm glad you did. You mean so much to me. Please don't apologize for that ever!"

The car pulls up to the row of grave markers and they get out and walk slowly up the center aisle turn to the right after two rows and walk in 18 headstones and stop. Kate kneels down and clears the grass clippings from Maratha's stone.

Martha Rodgers Born July 22nd, 1937- Died October 18th, 2010 Beloved Mother, Grandmother and damn great Broadway actress.

Alexis placed the single red rose she bought for her dad in the vase holder at the base of his headstone. She made the sign of the cross against her body and bowed her head. Kate did the same.

Richard Edgar Castle Born April 1st 1969-Died October 17th, 2010 Beloved son & father. Best selling author.

They each did their best to get what they were feeling out and before long they felt a little better. Saying goodbye they headed back to the car. Joe, Rick's personal driver shuttled them back into Manhattan and from there the girls told him to go home since he was with them all day. They did some shopping and then decided to go to eat. They were close to Remy's and they both looked at each other and the decision was unanimous. Stepping into the burger place after so long it brought back bittersweet memories for the both of them. As they sat at a booth they noticed that Paula was still there. Hell she must have been here when the place was built.

"KATE! ALEXIS! My god it's great to see the both of you. It's been such a long time. How are the two of you?" Paula asked.

"Paula, we're doing well. How have you been? I know that we have been away for a long time but here we are. Can we have our usual? If you remember that is."

"If I remember? Don't even go there. One cheese burger medium well, Strawberry shake and a basket of fries for you detective and for Alexis, a cheeseburger with provolone cheese, lettuce, ketchup, a vanilla shake hold the pickles." Paula tells them proudly.

"WOW! Both Kate and Alexis say together. Paula, I hate to tell you this, but I retired from the force a while ago. Now I consult for a firm uptown."

"Yeah I thought you might have, you look too happy considering... well your order will be up in about five minutes." Paula said not wanting to dwell on Rick.

"Thanks, Paula!"

"It's good to see you Kate, Alexis."

After saying their goodbyes Kate and Alexis head back to her loft. Since she retired Alexis had asked Kate to stay with her because she had more than enough room, but Kate thinks the real reason is that she is lonely. Either way, they get along great together.


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning Kate woke with a lighter heart. The impromptu dinner at Remy's was what made her feel a lot lighter. And then there was the visit to the cemetery. She had not made a visit to see him in about 2 years. This also lightened her heart. The fact that she was with Alexis, watching over her was in her mind fulfilling her promise to Rick.

" _If something were to happen to me, I want you to look after Alexis. She looks up to you and if her boyfriends get frisky you can shoot them._ "

 _"Nothing's going to happen to you." Kate tells him._

" _But, if it does…._

 _She just looked at him with understanding written all over her face and said "Okay"_

She remembers what he said like he only said it yesterday.

There's a knock on the door. Kate knows that it's Alexis.

"Come in sweetie!"

"Hi Kate, how did you sleep?"

"Like a baby. I want to tell you something. I was hiding from your dad. I have not been to see him in a while and it felt good to see him again, I miss him so much."

"I do too. I think that after this case is closed, and after we put Alvarez away we should take the time to make a weekly visit to see him and Grams."

"Agreed."

"Kate let's get up and have something to eat. I'm hoping that my queries into Alvarez's money laundering have found something to link him to New Amsterdam Bank and Trust."

"I hope that you can find something."

Alexis showered as did Kate. They met in the kitchen where Alexis had already started to cook eggs and bacon. Kate was starving. As they ate there was an envelope slid under her front door. Noticing this she got up and retrieved it and sat back down. Looking at Kate she pulled the file out and started to read. Along with the file there were 8x10 pictures of the New Amsterdam Bank and Trust bank manager Mr. Davenport.

A note accompanied the file. And it shook them both.

" _Davenport was in up to his eyeballs in dealings with Alvarez. He mysteriously died of a "heart attack" last year. He actually died from a poison that stopped his heart. Either he owed more than he could afford to pay or Alvarez got tired of asking for his cash and dealt with him."_

Happy hunting!

"A"

"Kate this was my street contact. His name is Andy. He sometimes helps me with hard to get information, like just about everything on Alvarez. Let's see what the net tells us."

They both set up at their desks and refreshed what they started last night on their computers. They found that Alvarez had indeed involved the manager in laundering cash for him. Even though Mr. Davenport had died they still had a lot of damning information to nail Alvarez with. It's about thirty minutes later when Alexis started to read the file that Andy gave them in his report. Davenport had been in deep but he also tried to get out from under Alvarez with an arrangement. He knew that safe deposit box 184 held about three quarters of a million in diamonds. And he would use Trapper John to take the stones and deliver them to Alvarez.

Everything was going according to plan until that consultant Richard Castle had involved himself in trying to figure out why the merc's were actually there. Davenport had let Trapper John know that he was to die in the explosion that was going to cover their escape.

Kate needed to bring back Jennifer Lynch one more time to confront Alvarez with this new information. She would wear a wire and have a surveillance unit from the NYPD listening in to get Alvarez's confession on tape. She got up and tugged on Alexis' arm to let her know that she needed to make a call.

"Hello Mr. Alvarez, this is Jennifer Lynch. I was wondering if you had time to talk about the bill you voted on and when my construction company could get started on this new project."

"Miss Lynch. It looks like I can meet you say around two pm. Is that okay with you?"

"That would be fine. I'll see you then."

Ending the call, she quickly dialed Ryan and asked him for a favor. After a half hour of explaining the case she would have the surveillance van near Alvarez's office to get everything on tape as well as back up. She got dressed in a body hugging dress that showed off her attractive figure. Securing the wire along the inside of her zipper with the mic sewn into her shoulder strap she was ready.

Arriving at his mid-town office she checked in with the receptionist. She was told that he would see her in five minutes. She takes a seat in the waiting area and reads a copy of New York magazine. Before long she is called to meet with him. As she walks into the office he is cordial. He asks how she is and offers her coffee, which she declines.

"So Mr. Alvarez I'm anxious to get my company into place to start working by the beginning of the new week. Will this be a problem?"

"It' won't be as soon as the first installment is made."

Kate pulls a rather large briefcase out and places it on his desk. He spins the case to face him and pops the silver latches. In it is one million in cash.

"Very good Miss Lynch. Have your company ready to start on Monday morning bright and early."

Kate has him for accepting a bribe. Now she really wants to make him to pay.

"So Mr. Alvarez, this cash will be laundered? I don't want this coming back on me and blowing up in my face later on down the road."

"Miss Lynch, there's nothing to worry about. Your cash will be sent to New Amsterdam Bank and Trust. After that it will be taken care of. I'll have it back within a week squeaky clean."

"I've heard of this bank. Wasn't that place robbed a while back? And if I'm not mistaken there were many deaths involved in the robber's escape."

As arrogant as she predicted he went into specifics, sealing his fate.

"Yes there was an interest I had there. I was able to come away with almost a million in diamonds. And I also eliminated some nosy consultant as well as two traitorous mercenaries. You see they wanted a bigger piece of the pie and, well I would have none of that. They had agreed on a price before they started the job so when they got greedy they paid the price. The consultant was just an added bonus, wrong place, wrong time kind of thing."

Kate was livid. He thought so little of life that she wished she had her gun so she could shoot him where he stood.

"Yeah well I guess you came out on top then right?"

"You bet I did. And since then Mr. Davenport has passed taking with him our secret."

There was a knock on the door. Alvarez rose to answer it. He opened the door to two NYPD detectives and four members of a SWAT team.

"Borough President Alvarez, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, bribing a city official, blackmail and money laundering. You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you at no cost. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"

"I have. But you're going to have a problem proving anything that was said here today."

"Actually we won't."

Kate walks back from his desk after retrieving the million in cash, turns in front of him and turns out her shoulder strap revealing the hidden mic. As she stands there she has one last comment to make him think about what he has done while he sits in a cell and rots.

"I was in love with Richard Castle! We were going to be married. You have taken away the one person in my life that loved me back unconditionally. I hope you die a slow death in jail." Kate walked to the door and left. Esposito and Ryan escorted Alvarez out to a waiting squad car and left for central booking.

Epilogue to follow. Thanks for all the reviews and favs.

P2P


	19. Epilouge

Damián Alvarez sat at the defendant's table with his highly paid attorney. Across from them was the District Attorney of New York county. The bailiff told everyone in the courtroom to rise as the judge enters

"All rise, The Honorable Judge Wilson is preceding into the court room"

The judge takes his seat and says "Please, be seated."

"Good Morning. We are here to read the verdict from the jury. Damián Alvarez you are hereby charged with 1 counts of conspiracy to commit murder, 1 count of attempted murder, 132 counts of bribing city officials, and 63 counts of blackmail, as well as 195 counts of fraud."

The judge looks over to the jury foreman and asks for the verdict. He puts on his glasses and unfolds the verdict and reads to himself. He refolds the verdict and hands it back to the bailiff who then returns it back to the foreman.

"Mr. foreman have you reached a verdict?"

"We have your honor."

"Very well, as I read the charge please read the verdict for each charge."

On the count of attempted murder in the second degree, what say ye?"

"Guilty"

"On the count of conspiracy to commit murder, what say ye?"

"Guilty"

"On the 132 counts of bribing a city official what say ye?"

"Guilty, on all counts."

"On the 63 counts of blackmail, what say ye?"

"Guilty, on all counts."

"On the 195 counts of fraud, what say ye?"

"Guilty on all counts."

"I thank the men and women of the jury. You're service while greatly appreciated in now complete. The bailiff will show you out."

The judge turns to face the defendant. He takes a pause before he starts to speak.

"Damián Alvarez I hear by find you guilty of all charges against you. In accordance with New York state law, I hear by sentence you to be incarcerated for a minimum of two consecutive life sentences. You will hereby be remanded to the custody of the New York State correctional system for the execution of this sentence. That is all."

The judge brings down his gavel sealing Alvarez's fate. The bailiff takes him into custody and then back to his holding cell.

Alexis and Kate just stare at the retreating form of Alvarez being led away. Both of their eyes moist knowing that they finally received the justice they were seeking. The DA turns away from his desk and addresses Kate and Alexis who are still sitting in the gallery.

"You know it's a strange thing."

"What is?" They both answer together.

"The strange thing is that yesterday I received an unaddressed envelope with no return address on it. But the even stranger thing was that inside this envelope was a 4 GB memory stick. On this stick was a recording of Alvarez telling the robber "Trapper John" to take Mr. Richard Castle out when he detonated the C-4 upon his escape."

"Really, well that sounds like a slam dunk." Kate says.

"Oh, but it doesn't end there, there's more. It seems that this new evidence also had Mr. Alvarez ordering two of his associates to poison Mr. Davenport. This is why he was charged with one count of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to commit. Would you have any idea how this new evidence came to light?"

"Who us? We're only here to see that justice was served. City officials on the take and all, such a travesty. We have no idea how you came into this new evidence."

"Yeah, I see how it is." The DA turns back to his table to gather his paperwork up and gets ready to leave.

As he does Kate turns to look behind her, and her eye catches an older gray haired woman sitting all alone in the corner of the gallery. She gives her a wink and a quick nod. The woman gets up and leaves the gallery. She stops at the double doors and nods back to Kate.

Alexis caught the exchange and asks:

"Kate who was that woman?"

"Alexis, there are just some things that you should not know about….

~Fin~

 **Thanks to everyone who left a review, favorited and followed this story. With readers like you, I have the strength to become better at how and what I post! Thanks again!**

 **P2P**


End file.
